


Away From You

by WhenInDoubtSleep



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Astronauts, Bad Puns, Barista Lance, Bottom Keith (Voltron), Brief Sex At The End, Cute, Don't Have to Know Canon, Exes to Lovers, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Jealous Keith (Voltron), Jealous Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Mending Relationships, Mutual Pining, Physics, Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Time Travel, Trapped, alone in an apartment, and they were ROOMMATES, angsty as heck, but it will get better, engineer Keith, sad for a while
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-09-18 16:07:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenInDoubtSleep/pseuds/WhenInDoubtSleep
Summary: Keith Kogane is one of the first members of NASA's Kerberos program to go back in time. But when the time jump goes wrong and Keith ends up too far in the past, he finds himself at his ex-boyfriend's apartment.





	1. Kerberos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance comes in the second chapter! I promise

Keith chugged his coffee, downing it in three gulps before chucking the cup in the trash. He looked around the hallway with its clinical, white walls as he walks, checking his watch again before speeding up a little bit. 

Today would not be a good day to be late. It still seems surreal to him. If you had told him ten years ago that he would be here in NASA, preparing to make history, he would have probably punched you so hard that your nose would remain permanently crooked. 

He walked in the open door right on time, plopping into his seat and sighing, pulling his hair back into a ponytail. Allura smiled over at him, winking once before turning her attention to Coran and Pidge Gunderson, the obnoxiously smart human being responsible for the technology that makes their mission possible. 

“Well, now that all of our wonderful scientists are present, let’s begin the briefing, shall we?” Coran said, standing up and looking around the room, surveying the three young, budding scientists, “It has been my lifelong dream to see this program to fruition, and I have you three to thank for making this even possible,” He added. 

Keith smiled, looking around the small conference room. There were so many procedures and so few people who knew the truth about what NASA was going to accomplish. 

“And with that thank you said, I’m going to pass it along to Allura,” Coran said softly, motioning for Allura. 

She cleared her throat, making direct eye contact with Keith before she began the speech that he already had practically memorized.

“Thank you all so much for the work that you’ve put into this. A few years ago, this was just a pipe dream, and we were just some young scientists, hoping to make a difference in the world. And we’re about to make history,” 

“We’re about to rewrite history,” Pidge muttered mischievously, a glint in their eyes. Keith snorted, shaking his head. 

“Right. And It’s thanks to you three. Hunk, Your work has made it possible for us to harness and control wormholes. Your incredible mind has found the key element in making time travel possible,” Hunk beamed, nodding once. 

“Pidge, your ability to understand wormholes has literally jump-started time travel. Without you, it would still be a dream. Working with you has been an absolute honor,” She said, and Pidge waggled their eyebrows. 

“And Keith… you have no idea how instrumental you are in all of this. From creating the actual Chronots to building it so that we have a stable wormhole to use… thank you. Thank all of you,” She said, smiling warmly. 

She was always so good at commanding a room. It made Keith wonder why she had wasted years of her life in a lab, unable to share her findings with the world. Keith had always been a little annoyed with Allura. She always wore long sleeves and dress shoes. She was always proper. She was practically the most pretentious woman Keith had ever met (maybe even the most pretentious person). She always seemed one step ahead of everyone. She always took everything way too seriously. She irked him. 

“Our tests have gone by flawlessly, but even so, there is still a large margin of error. This is when our mission gets dangerous,” She continued, her expression changing. She looks around the room gravely. You must keep your mind clear and focused before and during the jump. We don’t want to lose anyone in time.”

Keith frowns, thinking about how little planning has actually happened for an inaccurate time jump. 

“The facility is within walking distance of civilization, and should anything go wrong, you are all trained to handle the situation,” 

“Allura, that isn’t good enough,” Keith argues, frowning, “We are not well enough prepared for the very real possibility of going too far back,” He tried to reason. It wasn’t his first attempt, and he knew that as always, his complaint would fall on deaf ears. 

“We have done all that we can, Keith. You know that. But just for the sake of safety, would you care to remind us all of the protocol for an inaccurate time jump?” She says softly. He nods, annoyed. 

“First, I check vitals, make sure that my heart is pumping and that I’m not in more than one piece. And then I walk to the nearest city. But the thing is, I’d be so unbelievably fucked. No phone. No wallet. No credentials. And god- _ fucking- _ forbid I’m not actually in one piece,” Keith said, staring pointedly at Allura. 

“You’re a smart man, Keith. If anything were to go wrong, you would figure it out just fine. I know that you would,” She said, and although her words are meant to be reassuring, they just anger him more. 

“Listen, Allura. We are not prepared for that. We aren’t allowed to contact anyone. We’re not allowed to disrupt the timeline. What, you want me to become a petty thief? You want me to shack up in the desert and catch my own food?” He ranted, and Allura sighed annoyedly. 

“You know as well as the rest of us how detrimental a rift in time could be. You do not want to disrupt the present. If you disrupt the present, we-”

“Won’t be able to get me back. I know,” He muttered. 

Keith bites his tongue then, something that he has never been particularly good at. But this argument had played out time and time again. Allura was certain that nothing bad would happen, and Keith could do nothing to convince her otherwise. 

He flies down to Texas in the morning, and before then, he needs all of the sleep that he can get. 

~~~

Keith yawned, stretching and grimacing, feeling as if he was swimming in the humid Florida air. It was thick, and he stood up, running a hand through his messy hair before striding to the bathroom, turning on the shower and getting in. 

Today is the day. Today, Keith Kogane is going to travel back in time. 

 

It had been too many years since he had been in Texas. He sat in the back of a black car, staring out the window as he was driven to the location of the facility. 

Keith had grown up in Texas, but he hadn’t been back in nearly six years. It hurt him to think of all of the memories that he had been running away from. He gets more an more anxious as they drive through the suburb of Austin, passing the tall brick building that he had once lived in with Lance. 

Since Keith’s family was gone, it was easy for him to avoid Texas, and in avoiding Texas, he could typically avoid the thoughts of Lance. Stupid, obnoxious lance with his ocean eyes and brilliant smile. He had dove into work in the six years since they had split up. He used meditation and avoidance to keep his thoughts away from the beautiful man that he had left behind. 

He had probably gone too extreme, completely erasing the younger man from his life. There wasn’t a single trace of Lance McClain except for in the very back depths of Keith’s mind. It was better that way, he thought. 

Keith was grateful for the insanity that was working as an engineer for NASA. He had almost no free time due to the Kerberos mission, and he had welcomed that during the aftermath of his breakup with Lance. 

The brunette had made it perfectly clear that he was not interested in solving their problems. Keith had texted and called tirelessly in the months after the breakup, and Lance had never picked up. Not a single time. The pain had been unbearable for Keith. 

But here, as he stares at the brick apartment building, he can feel the long-forgotten twist in his stomach, a visceral kind of stabbing sensation. He couldn’t avoid thinking about Lance when he was so close to their old lives. 

When they finally reach the city, Keith has never been more relieved. He thanked his driver before barreling inside the small building, taking in the plain white walls. It was a lot smaller than he had expected.

“Kogane?” A woman asks, and he nods. 

“Yeah, that’s me,” He said, a forced smile occupying his face. She gave him a once-over, her stoic features making Keith just the tiniest bit uncomfortable. He wonders if Pidge’s flight to New York went well. He wonders if Pidge is uncomfortable or nervous. 

The woman’s formality reminds him of his days at the Galaxy Garrison. She seemed to be military, and it brought back too many unwanted memories of stolen kisses in uniform. 

“Follow me,” She says, turning crisply and walking down a hall. Keith trails behind her, wishing that there was something else for him to focus on. He had never hated blank walls as much as he did at that moment. 

Keith thinks about the military background that each of them had. Pidge and Hunk had been in the air force for a short time, Coran had worked for the British army, and Keith had gone to school at the Galaxy Garrison. He wonders if Allura had any military background, realizing that he didn’t actually know all that much about her past. 

Keith wonders briefly why they had chosen him as the engineer for this project. He had been top of his class at school, but so had most of the other engineers at NASA. Hunk says that it’s because Keith has grit, whatever that means. 

“Kogane, breakfast is at 0700. Your testing begins at 0800, and it is important that you are well rested before the jump,” She says, and he just nods, aware of the protocol. 

“I should be fine, I’ll see you in the morning,” He said, pushing inside his room and shutting the door behind him. 

The bed is small but comfortable, and the room is homier than he had expected from such a military-like facility. He shivered, looking around before setting an alarm and laying down, willing sleep to overtake him. 

 


	2. Remembering

The breakfast is simple and balanced, and the tests are the same as always. They take all of his vitals as well as a blood sample, and they measure his resting heart rate before sending him to jog for twenty minutes. The routine is familiar, and he appreciates how normal it all feels. 

After a quick text is sent to both Hunk and Pidge, sending them both the best of luck for successful jumps, he sets his phone down. He had five hours to prepare himself mentally for the time jump that he will make. 

After a few hours, Keith could no longer meditate. It took too much of his energy to clear his mind, so he let it wander, thinking about Shiro, his older brother, teaching not too far away at the garrison. He swallowed thickly, thinking about Lance and what he was probably doing on this normal Friday afternoon. 

He hopes that Lance is happy, living out his days freely. 

He isn’t permitted to eat lunch because they don’t think food is a good idea this close to the jump, so Keith paces his room, walking back and forth, trying to calm his mind. 

Promptly at three o’clock, he is brought down to the jump rooms. He washes down before putting on his jump suit, shoving his clothes into a locker and staring at the door labeled, departure. 

He sighed, settling down for his meditation. It had been the most important part of the process, he and Allura had decided. A clear mind is the only way to successfully make the jump. After he meditates, he walks to the departure room, smiling at the man who is there waiting for him. 

“Good afternoon. Please take your place on the table and recite to me your mission,” He requested, and Keith nodded, doing as he was told. 

“Keith Akira Kogane, NASA Chrononaut. Traveling from the departure chamber on October 25, 2023, at 1600 hours to the arrival chamber on October 25, 2018, at 1600 hours. I will debrief there for two hours before traveling back here at 1800.” He said, voice sounding bored. 

“And if something goes wrong?” 

Keith is quiet for a moment before responding, “If I don’t go far enough back, the procedure remains the same. If I go too far back… I am on my own,” He responded quietly. 

“And you understand what you are about to do? You consent to this time jump,” 

“Yes, I do,” Keith said, sounding more resolved. 

“As always, it is a pleasure working with you,” She says, and Keith is startled by that. He must have met her once before, but he can’t remember it. 

He meditates more as they perform the final calculations. He is inside the Chronot, preparing himself for the time jump when he begins to hear the Lieutenant counting down from five. 

He hears her say something, but he doesn’t make it out. She sounds urgent, and his mind flits to Lance for just a microsecond. 

October 25, 2018, he reminds himself, and then the lieutenant shouts, and Keith opens his eyes, frowning at them. 

October 25, 2017. The day that Lance broke up with him. Two days after his birthday. The lieutenant's voice slips away into the distance, fading out. Keith can feel every inch of himself tingling. 

He feels distant as if he is floating in some kind of deep abyss. He hadn’t expected the jump to feel so empty. 

And then he woke with a start, gasping for air, his eyes shooting open. And as soon as he is aware of his surroundings, his heart sinks. 

Keith is laying on the ground, the dirt coating the back of his jump-suit. He swallows thickly, shaking his head. He begins to check himself, making sure that all of his muscles were properly functioning. He was completely fine, but it was painfully obvious that he had gone too far back. 

He was sitting in the dirt in the location where the facility would eventually be built. He stands up, making sure that he’s walking in the right direction back to the city before allowing himself to think about his situation.

He hopes feebly that he didn’t go too far back because he would have to wait until 2018 to come back and travel back to his time. He was alone in the wilderness with no contacts, no money, no identification, and an unknown amount of time before he can go back to his life. 

While he walks, he thinks back to Allura as she assured him that this would never happen. He thinks of the timeline, of how quickly everything had come together as soon as they began the project. Keith sighed, walking along, pleading the sky above his head for some kind of mercy. 

Keith’s mind wanders as he walks, and eventually, he finds himself in a familiar parking lot. He groans, eyes landing on the forest green Subaru that belonged to Lance. It even had the NASA sticker on the bumper. He knows by the presence of that sticker that the Keith of this timeline was already in Florida. He wonders annoyedly if he had at least jumped to a time pre-breakup because that would make the next few hours infinitely easier. 

The more he thinks about it, the more certain he is that he landed at the right time on the right day one year earlier than planned. It was October 25, 2017. The day that Lance had left him, and here he was, wandering towards the apartment. 

Keith is angry, he wants to strangle Allura. He wants to scream at her for being so incredibly irresponsible and fucking up his life. 

And he knows that knocking on Lance’s door is the only option that he has. Lance lives alone, younger-Keith lives half a country away, and Lance is the most trustworthy person that he’s ever met. 

Lance is going to be pissed. 

As he’s about to go to the stairs, he hears a door open, and he swallows thickly, hoping that it isn’t Lance. Of course, the universe doesn’t give a shit about what Keith wants, and he jogs back to duck behind Lance’s car, waiting for the younger man to get in his Subaru before knocking on the glass of the passenger seat. 

Lance’s shocked expression is almost impressive. 

Lance is out of the car in a second, slamming the door shut. 

“What the fuck are you doing here, Keith?” He all but screams, charging towards him. Keith backs up, eyes wide. 

“Lance, can you please-” He says, trying to get him to quiet down. He would be absolutely fucked if Lance woke the entire complex. 

“ _ No _ , you asshole. You have no right to tell me to be-”

“Please, Lance. I’m begging you,” He tries, putting his hands out in front of himself as if surrendering. Lance stills, a look of confusion taking over his features. 

Lance doesn’t say anything, he just turns around, storming back towards the apartment. Keith follows him, praying that lance will take pity on him and let him inside. 

“I should’ve fucking known…” He muttered, fumbling with the lock annoyedly. Keith instinctively reached out, his hand fitting over Lance’s. He had always struggled with the lock, and Keith had always unlocked it for him. 

They both stilled. Keith pulled his hand away quickly, clearing his throat.

“I figured you were on your way to work,” He said, and Lance laughed bitterly. 

“Yeah, I was. I have the day off, but I needed to get out of our- _ my _ \- stupid apartment. Did you seriously fly to Texas? Really, Keith? God, you aren’t getting out of this one. I told you, we’re  _ over. I’m done! _ ” Lance said, sounding almost hysterical. Keith nodded slowly, frowning. 

“I know, Lance. I know. Can I just-” 

“And what the  _ fuck _ are you wearing. Where are your shoes?” 

Keith looks down at his outfit. It resembled scrubs, and he just shrugged, “It’s a work thing,” He said. 

“Oh, of course, it is,” Keith immediately realized his mistake, “Fuck you, Keith. I get it. You can’t tell me shit. You signed an NDA, and I’m not special. Tell your fucking driver to come back and take you to Florida. I don’t-”

“No one drove me,” Keith said, shaking his head, “Can I please come in… I uh… “ Lance stormed inside, leaving the door open. Keith assumed that meant he could enter. He shut the door behind him, locking it. 

“I’m gonna lay in bed. Don’t you  _ dare _ come in here. I don’t want to talk to you, Keith. I don’t want to see your fucking face,” He said, slamming the bedroom door. 

He looks over at the microwave. It’s almost seven. Keith sits down on the couch, feeling an intense twist in his chest. He sighs, letting memory after memory wash over him. 

He couldn’t avoid this now. He was stuck here, drowning in the past that he had never wanted to lose. He tried to listen, wanting to hear some kind of noise from inside the bedroom. 

At 10’oclock, Keith realizes that Lance is not going to come out tonight, and he curls up on the couch, falling asleep on the familiar brown piece of furniture. It isn’t comfortable, but at least it’s safe. Before he loses consciousness, he thinks that maybe he can hear Lance crying. 


	3. Seems Fake

“Your hair is long,”

  
He jumps, barely aware of his surroundings in the morning sunlight. He looks around, remembering the night before looking over at Lance.

  
“Yeah… I grew it out,” He says, voice thick with sleep, “What time is it?”

  
“Noon. I tried to wake you up, but you seemed pretty dead. I even checked your pulse. When did your hair get long? It didn’t look that way when we skyped?” Lance questioned, and Keith just shrugged.  
“And what, did you cover up your fucking hickey before you came? That’s a real dick move, Keith.”

  
Keith shook his head, looking up at Lance.

  
“No, there’s nothing there,”

  
“Oh, fuck off, Keith. I know what I saw. You practically admitted it. You can’t backtrack now,” Lance accused, and Keith just shook his head more urgently. Keith knows that his hair isn’t the only change, and he just wanted for Lance to notice. It would make this conversation easier.

  
“Do you have plans for the day?” He asks, and Lance huffed annoyedly, shaking his head.

  
“No, they gave me the day off. I was a disaster yesterday, you asshole. They didn’t want me to come in and sob all night,” Lance was still seething.

  
“Good, I’ve got some work stuff to tell you, but… it’s a little bit complicated, okay? And I don’t want you to freak out,” He says softly.

  
“Fuck off, Keith. I’m not stupid, okay? Just because I work at a coffee shop doesn’t mean that I’m-”

  
“I never once thought you were stupid, Lance. God, you’re brilliant, okay? Will you just listen to me?”

  
Lance is startled by Keith's outburst. He apologizes quietly, shaking his head.

  
“Listen, okay? And then I’ll answer any questions that you might have,” He promised, voice gentler. He wants to reach out and touch lance’s cheek to feel the soft skin beneath his calloused fingers. Lance nods, walking over to the couch and sitting down.

  
“Okay, shoot,”

  
“Okay um…” He was staring at the floor nervously. He didn’t know how to explain time travel to his ex-boyfriend.

  
“Never mind, I don’t care. Why are you here, Keith? You’re a fucking cheater, and I don’t have to listen to anything you ever say,”

  
“I didn’t cheat on you, Lance. I would never-”

  
“I saw the hickey! You fucking liar!”

  
“The guys dragged me out after we finished part of the project. Some guy on the dance floor got too handsy. Nothing happened. I broke his nose for touching me,” Keith argued annoyedly, eyebrows creasing.

  
“I saw it yesterday, Keith. Where is it?”

  
“Do you believe me?” Keith asked, sounding younger than he had in years.

  
“I don’t know, Keith. I don’t know how to trust you anymore,”

  
“I need to tell you the truth, lance, but you aren’t going to believe it because it sounds-”

  
“God, just fucking say it, Keith!”

  
“I’m from the future,” He blurts out, staring blankly at Lance.

  
The silence around them is uncomfortable, and Keith wishes that he’s drop dead on the spot. Lance stands up, walking to grab his keys.

  
“You don’t believe me,” Keith says, sighing annoyedly.

  
“Of course, I don’t. You’re fucking crazy, Keith,”

  
“I can prove it, Lance. C’mon. At least let me try. Don’t shut me down, okay? That’s why the hickey is gone. That’s why my hair is six inches longer. And I-” He breaks off, pulling his shirt off to reveal the tattoos that he had gotten used to. praeteritum praesens futurum.

  
Lance is stunned. He walks back over, his hand moving to touch the colored skin.

  
“How… But I saw you yesterday? And you didn’t… it takes too long for a fresh tattoo to heal?”

  
“It isn’t fresh. I got it in 2018 after we… after I figured out the design for the machines,” He said softly.

  
“It’s Latin. Past present future,” Lance muttered, still staring at Keith’s muscled chest, “Why are you here… like in 2017. Why are you here now?”

  
Keith sighs, shrugging and shaking his head.

  
“I’m not entirely sure. The lieutenant distracted me. I was supposed to go back to 2018, but she yelled, and I was thinking about you and… Here I am,” Lance laughs at his answer, shaking his head.

  
“What the hell does NASA think it’s doing?” He asked incredulously.

  
“It’s Allura’s fault. I told her that we needed to be prepared for this, but she kept telling me that it would never happen,” Keith ranted annoyedly, and Lance sighed, still smiling confusedly.

  
“I have an incredibly huge favor,” Keith said next, frowning and chewing on his bottom lip, “And I know that you hate me, but… I really need your help, lance.” He pleaded, and lance didn’t say anything, waiting for Keith to go on.

  
“I don’t have anything. I just… no ID, no money, no backup plan. I’m on my own until October 25th, 2018. But no one is supposed to know about me. I trust you, lance. More than I have ever trusted another human being. Can I… Can I stay with you?” He asked quietly.

  
“Absolutely not,” Lance said immediately.

  
“Lance,” Keith pleaded, sighing, “I literally have nowhere to go. I came to you because I trust you,” He tried again.

  
“Okay, fine. Maybe. But A soulful ‘I trust you’ is not good enough, Keith.”

  
“I’m sorry, Lance. I know that I fucked everything up when we were young, and I know it was literally two days ago for you, but… I’m different. I’m six years older. I’m not young and stupid anymore, I’ll do whatever-”

  
“You can’t keep any secrets from me. 100% open and honest. No lies. No more secrets,” Lance says, his voice hurried.

  
“Of course, anything you want to know,” Keith promised.

  
“And you have to sleep on the couch, okay? You don’t get to be in the bed,” Keith nodded again.

  
“Is that it? Because those terms are incredibly doable. I won’t let you-”

  
When Lance’s phone goes off, Keith grabs it, immediately hitting decline at the sound of Keith’s personalized ringtone.

  
“Dude, what the fuck?”

  
“You never answered… before. I call for a long time, but… you never picked up,” Keith explained, shrugging, “I mean you have every right to not want to-”

  
“Keith, I was going to answer that,” Lance says seriously, and Keith frowns, not understanding what Lance means.

  
“No, you never-”

  
“Keith, I was going to answer that call. If I never did it’s because-”

  
“Oh my fucking god… “ He said incredulously, “I’m such an asshole. I was a wreck forever. I thought you hated me… And it was me. I wouldn’t let you answer the goddamn phone,” He muttered.

  
“Can you tell me about it?” Lance asked, and Keith nodded, telling Lance the story. He told Lance about the four brilliant scientists working together on time travel, told him about Allura and Pidge and Hunk, “I thought you were working on a shuttle,”

  
“I was… um… 2017 me still is. We haven’t gotten there yet in the timeline. It’s still a few months away,” He explains, telling him about his transfer from aeronautical to chrononautical.

  
“Okay, so what do you do now?” lance asks.

  
“I’m an engineer. I build the like… machine. The time machine. We call them Chronots. But I’m also a chrononaut. So I work out for like… hours every day,” He adds, and lance nods, eyes drifting back down to his chest.

  
“I noticed,” He admitted, cheeks tinged pink. Keith chuckled, shrugging.

  
“This was our first human experiment… And as you noticed, I fucked up. I was stupid, and I was thinking about you. And now here I am,” Keith muttered, shrugging.

  
“You were thinking about me? It’s been what, six years?” Lance asked, voice soft.

  
“Well, yeah. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m here. In Texas. And we passed here and… it brought up all of the things that I’ve been avoiding,” Keith said, voice tense. He didn’t know how to discuss his still-present feelings.

  
“Are you seeing anyone?” Lance blurted out, immediately looking mortified, “Oh god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… that’s weird. You don’t have to answer that,” He rushed out immediately afterward. Keith shrugged.

  
“Of course not. I’ve been busy. And I’ve never been very good at dealing with my feelings,” He said, chuckling, “Speaking of which, I’m going to keep calling you, Lance. You can’t answer the phone. You can’t talk to me.”

  
“That’s not fair, Keith. We both know I wouldn’t do that!” Lance argued, seemingly frustrated.

  
“I know, but I’m serious, Lance. You never answered the phone, and we can’t risk changing the timeline,”

  
“Fine,” He said, standing up and walking over to the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge absent-mindedly.

  
Keith cleared his throat, standing up and glancing in the direction of the bedroom, “Can I take a shower, lance? I feel disgusting,” He asked, and lance hummed, nodding.

  
“Yeah, of course. Some of… some of your clothes are still in the dresser,” He added, pulling out some bread, “Do you still like mustard on your sandwiches?” He asked

  
“Yeah. Yeah, I do.”


	4. How to Forget

It’s strange how familiar the entire apartment is. There are still some mostly-empty bottles of Keith’s shampoo in the corner of the shower. Keith sighs happily as he steps into the small stall, welcoming the burning hot water. 

His brain almost hurts as he tries to think about the next year. Shiro lives close by, so it’s unlikely that Keith will get to leave the apartment almost at all. He thinks of the small apartment and sighs, shaking his head, listening to the splatter on the shower curtain. 

He didn’t want to bother Lance for an entire year, but they didn’t have another option. Honestly, it’s such a mindfuck. 

He thinks back to Lance, the beautiful man taking all of this fuckery in stride. They were getting along better than Keith had expected (although Lance also didn’t hate him as much as he had previously assumed, and apparently, that was completely 2023 Keith’s fault. It was his own damn fault). 

After twenty minutes of peace and quiet, Keith grabbed a clean towel, drying off his chest before wrapping the towel around his waist. 

He was surprised to see Lance there, sitting on the bed when he went in, a small pile of clothes beside him. Lance flushed pink, but he held Keith’s gaze. 

“Those mine?” was all that Keith could manage. Lance nodded, smiling up at him. 

“I missed you, y’know,” Lance said, staying put on the edge of the bed. Keith coughed, trying to hide his surprise in the crook of his elbow. He walked over, picking up the worn black t-shirt before looking over at Lance. Lance was staring at his bare chest unapologetically. Classic Lance. 

The two men stare at each other as soon as Keith has pulled on the shirt. After a moment, Lance rolled his eyes before laying down, allowing Keith to get dressed without being scrutinized. 

After Keith was fully dressed, he sat down, sighing. 

“We should talk about it, I think,” Keith sounds young, his voice slightly pained. 

“Talk about what?” 

“I missed you too. But Lance… we shouldn’t…” 

“Why not?” Lance asks, sitting up and moving closer. Keith could feel the tension. He could see the unclouded want in Lance’s blue eyes, “You aren’t him, Keith… not really. You’re you. You’re here. And I miss you. I miss  _ him, _ ” Lance tries to explain, sounding exasperated. 

“I know, Lance. I know. And he misses you too, so much. You have no idea how much I fucking missed you. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, being so far from you. And the  _ silence _ .” 

“Six years. We really haven’t spoken in six years?” Lance sounds amazed, and Keith just nods, pulling his wet hair into a sloppy bun with his hair tie. Lance lets out a shaky breath, squeezing his eyes shut. 

“I can’t talk to him at all, then? Ever again?” And Keith’s instincts override his hesitancy as he pulls Lance in for a hug. 

“Hey, lance. Don’t cry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that I did this to you. I can go… I can figure something out,” Keith said, and Lance sucked in a sharp breath, glaring up at Keith from against his chest. 

“No, fuck you. You don’t get to leave me all over again,” He snapped, causing Keith to tense up. 

“I’m sorry, Lance.”

“No… no, sorry. That was uncalled for. I just mean… what if it’s supposed to be this way? You’re here now. That’s how the timeline is. I don’t answer you because you’re here to keep it from happening. I don’t get to fix things with him. But you’re here,” Lance rambles, and Keith chuckles, shaking his head. 

“Yeah, I’m here. I am sorry though. I didn’t think this through. I just woke up and then I walked here and…”

“So, we’re roommates then. We were friends before we were together. We can deal with a little bit of awkwardness for a year. Besides, I’m gonna need some reminders to not answer the phone when you call,” He admitted, smiling and wiping his tears. 

And all was well. The two adjusted to each other quickly, settling into a routine within a week. They cooked together and watched the same television shows they had before (although Keith knew how most of them ended). And when Lance would go to work, Keith entertained himself by watching Netflix, browsing the internet, and attempting to work out in the living room. 

In other words, Keith was way more bored than he had expected to be. 

When Lance’s next day off came, Keith convinced him to drive them an hour to San Antonio. They don’t do much, but Keith feels like a person again. He had never considered how much being trapped in a small apartment would hurt his mental health. 

Whilst in San Antonio, they wander a Trader Joe’s. Keith had been wandering, picking up things here and there before putting them back on the shelves. 

“Why do you keep doing that?” 

Keith is startled, and he looks over at Lance, “I don’t have any money,” He reminds as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Lance laughs. 

“Please. Get whatever you want. We live together Keith, and I’m not going to let you starve.  _ Honestly _ ,” He says, grabbing a few more bags of chips, shoving them in the cart. Keith forces a small smile, shaking his head. 

“Lance-”

“No, you piece of shit. If having your favorite snacks will bring you some joy in that shoebox apartment, it’s worth it, okay?” 

Keith just nods, picking a few things and putting them back in the cart. 

“Besides, I’m sure there’s some way you could pay me back,” He says, voice full of mischief, and Keith raises his eyebrows. 

“Like?” 

“Oh, get your head out of the gutter!” Lance accused, but his cheeks turned a pleasant shade of pink, “Like… you can clean and do laundry or something like that,” He mumbled a second later. 

 

And the weeks continue passing, and although it feels like molasses to Keith, it really isn’t bad at all. Although he can feel himself getting annoying. He keeps begging Lance to go to the library and get him some books, and when Lance is home, he won’t leave him alone. 

“I’m sorry. I’m being obnoxious,” Keith says one day while they’re eating dinner. 

Lance just shrugs, taking a bite of his chicken, “‘s not a big deal. I’d be bored too,” 

“Yeah, but I’m ruining your life. When’s the last time you talked to your friends?” Keith asked, shoving some potatoes into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. 

“Oh, they’re giving me some space… I’m moping, don’t you know?” Lance asked, smiling over at Keith. 

“Moping?” 

“Yeah, I’m distant and quieter than usual. And when I see them, I pout a little bit. It isn’t hard to pretend to be sad. I do miss little Keith,” Lance informs, and Keith snorts, looking at him incredulously. 

“And of course, I mean 2017 you, not your dick. Although-”

“You’re pretending?” Keith asks, trying to change the subject. Lance nods. 

“Yeah, I mean… It’s hard to feel like I’m sad about the breakup because you’re here. I’m not confronted with the aloneness. I’m never alone. I come home and there you are, waiting for me,” He explained, and Keith nodded slowly, mulling over Lance’s statement. 

“It wrecked me, you know. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I was a disaster,” Keith said quietly, crossing his arms and withdrawing from the conversation. 

“Hey… don’t do that. I’m sorry, Keith,” He said, and Keith could hear the sincerity, “It’s hard to remember that there’s another you out there. I forget. It just feels like you’re here with me, and… I’m sorry,” He said again. 

“I know, and I’m not mad at you. I just remember how much it fucking  _ hurt _ ,” Keith said. 

“Holy, shit, you’re almost thirty,” Lance said suddenly, and Keith’s face contorted. 

“Hey! I’m 29,” 

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Lance brushed that aside, still hung up on the age difference. 

“It is not! You called me old. You’re unbelievable,” Keith argued, but Lance just rolled his eyes, getting up and grabbing the dishes off of the table. 

“You kind of are old. Don’t worry though, you’re still hot for an old man,” Lance adds casually, and if Keith stays quiet because he isn’t sure how to answer that, Lance doesn’t need to know. 

 

“Did you want to do something before I leave for Christmas?” Lance asked one night while they were laying on the couch watching some rom-com that Lance had insisted on. 

“Oh… I forgot you were leaving,” Keith said honestly, thinking, “No, it’s fine. I mean, I figure it’s just another day. And it’s not like we can really do much,” He added, “But while we’re on the subject of Christmas, your present should be coming any day. You have to send it back to me,” 

They sat there in silence for a minute. 

“I’m sorry, Keith,” He said eventually, and Keith just shrugged, forcing a smile.

“It’s fine. It’s been six years, remember. I’m not upset anymore,” He lied. 

“What is it?” 

“You don’t get to know… I’d rather not say,” 

Lance was quiet for a moment, but Keith could tell he was annoyed. 

“In our terms of agreement, you promised you’d tell the truth,” He said quietly, voice sounding more detached than Keith knew it could. 

Keith is quiet for a minute, thinking about the feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw the package with  _ return to sender _ in Lance’s neat handwriting. 

“It’s just a necklace. I’ll send it to you. When I get back,” He says, voice quiet. 

Lance smiles a little, appeased by Keith’s answer (which wasn’t entirely true, of course).

“You still have it?” Lance asked suddenly, and it’s the first time that they had addressed what happens after Keith goes back to his present. 

“Yeah… I couldn’t get rid of it,” He admitted, shrugging. 

“Can you tell me anything about me? Like future me?” Lance asks, and Keith is quiet for a minute, thinking about the few things that he knows to be true about 2023 Lance. 

“You move. Shiro mentioned that you left here… that’s all I know though. I asked him not to bring you up again,” Keith admitted apologetically, “I think about it a lot though. I wonder where you are and what you do. I don’t know if you went to college and if you’re some really awesome career professional. I don’t know,” 

“Well, your guess is as good as mine,” Lance says, shrugging, “I figured we’d get back together so…” He trailed off, and Keith’s frown deepened. 

“Hey, Lance,” but he’s already in the bedroom, and Keith can hear his sniffles, a telltale sign that he’s crying. 

Keith summons all of his courage, opening the door and going over to where he’s sitting on the bed. 

“I’m sorry, Lance. That was… I didn’t mean to upset you, and I know it doesn’t mean shit. But my number is still the same. When I get back, you can call me,” Keith tried although he knew how stupid he must sound.

“I hadn’t planned my future because I was waiting for you to get back. Your contract was supposed to be up in two years, and I don’t know… how will I know that you got back?” He asks, and Keith shrugs, sitting down next to him. 

“Well, theoretically I get back on October 25th so-”

“2023?” Lance asks, and Keith nods. 

“Yeah. I left my phone in my room, so I’ll have it pretty soon after I get back,” Keith explained, and Lance asks him what time to call. 

“I don’t know. Probably like 9:00 just to be safe. I don’t know how long my debrief will be,” He says. 

“I’ll text you,” Is all that Lance says, and Keith nods. 

“Lance, I’ll understand if you forget. Or if you don’t want to. Six years is a really long time, trust me, I know. And I really won’t blame you-”

“I think I want to sleep now, okay? Goodnight, Keith,” Lance forces out, and Keith nods, standing up and moving to leave the room. He hears a whisper right before he closes the door, and those words won’t leave his brain. 

“I’ll remember. How could I ever forget?”

 


	5. Christmas time

When December 23rd rolls around, Keith watches lance take his suitcase out to the car along with the presents before he comes back up to say his temporary goodbye. He immediately wraps his arms around Keith, surprising the older man. 

It takes him a minute to hug back, but he smiles against Lance’s shoulder. 

“Merry Christmas, Keith,” lance mumbles, and Keith nods, returning the sentiment. 

“Sleep in the bed while I’m gone, okay? Give the poor couch a rest and… please take care of yourself. I left plenty of food in the fridge, and the laptop’s on the-”

“Lance, I’ll be fine. Go see your family,” Keith assures, smiling warmly up at Lance. 

“Okay, just… I’ll see you in a few days, okay?” 

Watching Lance go is weirdly difficult, and although Keith had said he’d be fine, Christmas Eve and Christmas day were miserable. 

He drank too much wine to try and forget his misery, and the hangover was a bitch. 

A few days later, while Keith was on the computer, he decided to check up on his future coworkers. 

Pidge was pretty easy to find on both social media and their school’s website. They were nearly finished with their Ph.D. in Physics (at 22 years old, that asshole) where they were working on stabilizing wormholes. Their social media was nerdy, but Keith enjoyed the pictures of Pidge on the beach in a green t-shirt. They looked free and so very Californian. 

Hunk’s social media was sparse, mostly consisting of food, and when he searched Hunk’s university, Keith was surprised to see that he was working on a Ph.D. in Aerospace engineering. Keith frowned, shaking his head. That didn’t make very much sense. Hunk needed to find the super-heavy element that they built the Chronots out of. He wondered when Hunk would switch his focus to chemistry. 

Allura was also easy to find. She was working on her MS in Physics. Keith rolled his eyes, still annoyed with her for getting him into this situation. He thinks back to her unfinished master's degree and sighs. Why was she so special?

After his time spent on google, Keith curled up in the bed, cocooned in Lance’s bed. He fell asleep longing for Lance’s warmth. 

 

Keith woke to the sound of the front door opening, and he yawned, standing up and looking around the room, tugging on a dirty t-shirt before going to the living room where Lance was dropping his suitcase and a handful of presents. 

“Hey,” Lance says, smiling up at Keith with pink cheeks. 

“I thought you weren’t getting back until tonight?” Keith asked, moving to help Lance with his things, moving them to the bedroom. 

“I missed you,” Lance all but whispered, avoiding eye contact, “And I’m sorry if you were looking forward to another day alone, but I just-”

“I missed you too,” Keith assured, leaving it at that, letting Lance ramble on about his family. Keith spends the rest of the day worrying about his confession

 

As it turns out, sleeping on the couch is awful. Keith hadn’t really noticed until he got used to sleeping in the bed, but the old leather couch was hurting every single muscle in his back. 

Three days after his return, when Lance saunters into the kitchen after his shower, wearing nothing except a pair of thin joggers, Keith groans, plopping down. 

“What’s twisting your panties?” Lance asks, opening the fridge and getting out some eggs and sausage. 

“Nothing, my back’s just fucking  _ killing _ me,” he admits, sitting back up. It’s difficult not to stare even for Keith, who had always prided himself on the ability to remain impassive in high-stress situations. But he could see the outline of Lance’s dick, and there was  _ no way in hell  _ that he was wearing any underwear. 

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Keith mumbled, barely having registered that Lance had said something. 

“I said that I don’t mind if you want to sleep in the bed. We can like… put pillows in the middle if you want. I know you’re trying to keep boundaries or whatever, but I really don’t see what the big deal is,” he said, humming a little as he began cooking. 

“I’ll uh… I’ll think about it,” Keith said, swallowing thickly, trying to keep his eyes off of Lance’s gorgeous body. 

“Oh, I’m sure that’s what you’re thinking about,” he teased, “go take a cold shower, and I’ll make you some food,” he added shamelessly. Keith disappeared to the bathroom without another word. 

That night, Keith falls asleep in the bed with Lance, separated by all of the throw pillows (which is an impressive amount, Lance has a problem). They had also dug through the closet to find Lance’s old sleeping bag. He woke up alone the next morning, staring at the empty side of the bed where Lance should be, cuddling a baby blue pillow. 

 

On New Year's Eve, Keith watches Lance ready himself for a party at Kinkade’s. Lance is singing quietly in Spanish as he tries on a few different outfits before settling on one that he liked. 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Lance asked, checking to make sure that e had all of his essentials. 

“Of course I will. Be safe, okay? If you’re drunk, please do not get in your car,” Keith said, his nose scrunching just the slightest bit at how fussy he sounds. 

“I would never drive drunk, Kogane. Yee of little faith,” Lance’s words are fond, “But Ryan told me that I could crash on his couch if needed, so I don’t know if I’ll be back, okay?” 

Keith nodded, smiling at Lance, “Have fun, okay? I’ll see you when you get home,” he added, chuckling, “You look good by the way,” He added, blushing immediately after. Lance looked down, biting his lip. 

“Thanks, Keith. I’ll see you when I get home,” and then he was gone, and Keith went to the bedroom, pulling up Netflix and watching some dumb tv show until he couldn’t keep his eyes open for a second longer. 

He woke to a very drunk, mostly naked Lance tumbling into the bed. He rolled in a lopsided grin on his face.

“Keith!” He said, causing the older man to jump, “Are you awake, Keith?” 

“I am now, you asshole,” He muttered, wiping his eyes and leaning up on his arm, taking in the disaster in front of him. Lance’s hair was wet, and he smelled like weed and champagne. 

“Jesus, how much did you drink?” Keith asked, a small smile making its way onto his face. 

“Y’know… just the party amount. I haven’t been out. People kept pouring me sympathy shots and shit,” He said, plopping down, “Keith, I’m going to be sick tomorrow,” He informed gravely. 

“Hey, suck it up. You made this bed, now you have to sleep in it,” Keith teased, trying to move a little bit farther from Lance. Lance just shrugged, smiling blissfully. 

“You’re only young once, Keith. You should know, you’re old now,” and the mischevious look on Lance’s face was worth having a picture of, but Keith just reached out to touch his wet fringe. 

“Is there champagne in your hair, Lance?” He asked, and Lance just nodded, closing his eyes, “how does that even happen?” 

“Shhh. Sleep time,” 

“You left the light on,” Keith reasoned, but Lance sighed dramatically, getting up and going to turn them off before coming back, slipping into the covers. He leaned over to kiss Keith chastely, surprising the older man.

“Love you, Keith,” He said sleepily before curling into a ball. 

He waited until Lance was snoring softly beside him to grab his sleeping bag and move out to the couch, his lips still tingling. 

 

Keith spends the next morning listening to Lance complain about his hangover. He routinely checks up on him in the bathroom, bringing him more water to sip on. Eventually, Lance comes to sit on the couch, flinching at the light that filters in through the slats in the blinds. 

“I know that I shouldn’t feel guilty, but I just want to apologize to you,” Lance says suddenly, and Keith’s cheeks flare a violent red color. 

“Hey, no, don’t worry about-”

“Like, I know we aren’t dating or anything, but James kissed me when the ball dropped. And I was drunk, and it’s not a big deal. I just thought you should know,” He rushed out, and Keith was hit with the sudden realization that Lance did not remember kissing him. 

“Oh,” is all that Keith can manage, staring dumbly at Lance, frowning the tiniest bit. 

“You aren’t mad, are you? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen,” 

Keith lets the silence settle before he says anything, “Of course I’m not mad,” it was a lie.

“What about 2017 Keith… would he be mad?” Lance asked, sounding way more distressed. 

“Yeah, he probably would be. But he has no right to be mad about it, okay?”

“I just felt like I needed to tell you,” 

Keith nodded, searching for something to say in order to fill the silence. He didn’t want to think about how heartbroken he would have been six years ago. He didn’t really want to think about Lance kissing Griffin. 

“Do you like him?” the words have escaped before Keith could even process them. 

“What? No, no way. Definitely not.” 

“Sorry, I just thought you might have felt guilty because you like him. Which would be fine. You could definitely ask him out if you-”

“I’m not looking for a relationship right now, Keith,” Lance said, sounding annoyed. He crossed his arms, shaking his head. 

“Is it because I’m here?”

“No, Keith, you stupid ass. It’s because I just very recently got out of a very long term relationship, and I’m still fucked up over it, okay?” his words were harsh like a serrated blade. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Just leave it alone, Keith.” 


	6. Definitely

It’s mid-January when Lance doesn’t come home from his job on time. Keith realizes later than he should, that Lance is usually home an hour earlier. He stands up, going to peak out the window even though he knows that won’t change anything. So he paces. And then he makes some tea, finishes it, and does some pushups to distract himself (which doesn’t work). His brain keeps running through all of the horrible situations that could have happened. 

“Where the  _ fuck  _ were you?” Keith demands the second he hears the door start to open, staring at Lance with wild eyes full of concern. 

“Oh, sorry I’m Late,” Lance says, an apologetic smile gracing his beautiful face. He pushes into the apartment, dropping down onto the couch. 

“Are you okay? What happened?” Keith asked, staying still, standing in the middle of the small living room. His cheeks warm as the adrenaline slowly recedes, leaving him feeling pathetic. 

“Oh, sorry. I just drove down to San Marcos.” The silence that settles between them is interesting, filled with Keith's anxiety. 

“What? Why?” Keith asks, and Lance shrugs, blushing a bit. 

“Well… I got off early because the shop was so  _ empty  _ today. Seriously. I cleaned everything  _ twice _ . And then I was thinking about the future y’know… because I’m not entirely sure what I want to do, but I’m gonna have a few years, and I don’t know. College might be cool, I guess.” Lance rushed out, eyes trained down on the floor. Keith raises his eyebrows then. 

“Texas State University?” He asks, and Lance just shrugs, nodding. 

“I mean, you don’t know where I go or what I do. And I definitely don’t know where to go or what to do, and TSU is pretty close. But it’s still… I don’t know, new? Could be good for me, maybe? I don’t even know if I want to go to school again,” Lance rambles on, and it is only then that Keith notices the stack of papers in his lap. 

“Oh… what did you think?” He asks, moving closer, settling beside Lance on the couch. 

“I’m not really sure,” Lance admits, “I thought going there would make me understand… what I want to do. But I just have no idea,” He says, chuckling, “there were brochures for so many different types of majors, and I have no idea what I like. I grabbed some engineering and math stuff. Thought you might miss it?” 

And the corners of Keith’s mouth turned up slightly. He did miss it, surprisingly enough. He missed stretching boundaries and creating new things. He missed solving problems and watching his work pay off. 

“I mean, I can’t go take classes, but maybe I could find something online,” He said, taking the brochures and spreading them out across the coffee table, “Jesus, did you take a brochure for every major they offer?” 

“I might have gotten carried away. I just don’t even know where to start. It’s a little bit overwhelming if I’m honest,” 

“Well, I would just start with stuff that you like, the things that you find interesting,” Keith prompted, eyes scanning the various program titles. There’s everything from philosophy to Spanish to mass communication to engineering to fashion merchandising. 

“I’m sorry if I worried you,” Lance admitted, ignoring Keith’s statement. 

“I hate not having a phone,” is all Keith says in response. 

“We could… make you an email? I know it isn't the same, but I’d still be able to answer you from my phone,” Lance suggested, and Keith looked up at him. 

“Wow, see. You’ve always been the smart one,” Keith admitted chuckling, “Are you sure it won’t annoy you?” 

“Please, I like hearing from you. You know that, idiot.” 

And Keith is startled by how much he knows that to be true. He avoids thinking about it too much because he knows how badly this could end for both of them. This is perhaps the most difficult thing about their situation. 

Keith knows that it will end poorly because either way, he’d be leaving in 9 months. And he won’t be back for five years. And neither he nor Lance knows what will change in those five years. It’s only setting himself up for heartbreak, really. But he almost doesn’t care. 

 

After the idea is in his head, he can’t stop thinking about how much he misses his work. He digs on the internet until he finds copies of textbooks to read and some free courses from MIT. He yearns for something to push himself. 

Some of it is a review, the physics and engineering classes reawakening that part of his brain. The math classes are new, but he finds them easier than he had expected. He had never really cared for the math in his university days. 

When he had been pursuing his master’s, he had never paid much attention to the math, half-assing all of those classes because he just didn’t care. 

Now, he throws himself into it, and it consumes most of the days. He enjoys the challenge, the fresh knowledge, and the idea that maybe when he gets back, he’ll be on equal footing with Allura. 

Every day, Keith is surprised when he hears the door open, and Lance shuffles inside. He rarely remembers to even eat lunch, getting so wrapped up in equations and problem-solving. He feels like himself again. 

He feels bad in the back of his head, knowing that it was probably frustrating Lance. He had fallen back into some of his old habits, forgetting to make dinner, not cleaning up after himself. He was completely committed to learning, which had been difficult for them during their relationship. 

But it’s hard to focus on being a functional human being when he’s so caught up in reading about Hunk’s research and Allura’s work and Pidge’s projects. He wanted to learn as much as he could about what all three of them were doing currently. He wants to know how the four of them ended up coming together to invent time travel. 

And that’s the mystery, really. He understands his part of it, how to build all of the equipment that one needs to make a time jump. He had made the tables and the tubes, created from an ultra heavy metal that would protect the chrononaut from radiation. 

He had been there for Pidge’s presentation on wormholes. They had been so nervous and young with no idea that they were already basically on the team. Their research on wormholes was the thing that made time travel possible in the first place. That along with Hunk’s knowledge of superheavy elements and Allura’s study of quantum field theory and exotic matter. 

And Keith reads through every piece of information that he can find on Allura’s research, and the funny thing is that none of it has anything to do with exotic matter. Every one of her papers is about particle colliders, which isn’t right. And now, he’s absolutely kicking himself for never having paid attention to Allura’s research history. Nothing about her research made any sense. 

“Keith, for fuck’s sake,” He hears, and he looks up, brows furrowing. 

“What?” He askes, and Lance just gestures at all of the dirty dishes still in the kitchen. Keith sighs, closing his eyes and putting the laptop beside him. 

“Yeah, shit. I’m sorry. I just… sorry,” he says, moving to go to the kitchen when he notices how worn out Lance looks. He stops in his tracks. 

“You okay, Lance?” Lance doesn’t answer him, going to begin folding their laundry while Keith makes quick work of the dishes. They finish soon, and Keith goes to where Lance is sitting on the couch, nose deep in a university brochure. 

“Lance?” Lance responds with a noncommital noise. 

“You aren’t okay. What’s up?” 

“I’m bored. I used to like working, y’know. I had fun mixing and creating new stuff, and the cleaning really wasn’t too bad. But I just don’t want to do it anymore. But I don't know what I want to  _ do _ ,” 

“Well, you have dozens of different brochures, I noticed you’ve acquired a few more from other schools. There has to be something that’s caught your interest?” 

Lance groans, throwing the brochure that he was reading onto the coffee table. Keith raises his eyebrows in surprise. 

“You want to study physics?” He asks, not unkindly. 

“I just want to understand what you’ve been reading lately. It’s different than what you studied in school. I mostly understood that stuff,” He admitted. 

“Okay, so some secret time travel stuff is going to come up if I keep talking. Let me know if you’d rather I stop,” Keith warns, but Lance just gestures for him to sit down. 

And so Keith tells him everything. He starts with the theoretical stuff and everyone’s research before he dives into his job creating the equipment. He tells Lance about every experiment and trial. When he finishes, Lance is frowning. 

“Why is Allura in Geneva if she’s supposed to be in Florida?” He asks, and Keith just shrugs. 

“That’s the thing. I have no idea. She’s still studying right now, but I can’t figure out what exactly changes her mind. I don’t understand why she would walk away from her particle collider research. Exotic matter is a stupidly niche area of study; it isn’t something that people just stumble into,” He explains, and Lance nods slowly. 

“Your turn to cook tonight,” he says, and Keith mumbles that he knows. They sit in silence for another minute. 

Keith reaches out absentmindedly, massaging at Lance’s hand while he thinks about Allura again. He doesn’t want to keep tabs on her, but he does know that her life has to dramatically change in the next few months or he’s fucked. She has to switch concentrations, move to Florida, and start working for NASA. And she has to do it  _ soon _ . 

 

Later in the week, Lance is up at dawn even though he doesn’t work that day, and Keith gets up and finds him in the kitchen, physics books and Allura’s research spread out around him. He yawns, walking to grab a mug and pour some coffee. Lance doesn’t look up from whatever it is that he found interesting. 

“Morning, Lance. What are you-”

“I think you have to talk to Allura,” Is all that he says. 

“What?” 

“Well, I’ve been reading about her work, and I found her twitter too. She won’t stop talking about Geneva. Apparently, when she was in undergrad, she studied abroad there for a semester, and she has wanted to go back ever since. Also, she studied art, which is cool,” 

“I know. About the art thing, I mean. But you know that I  can’t fuck with the past, Lance. It’s too risky,” 

“No. Hear me out, okay?” 

Keith nods, sitting down next to him and taking a gulp of the coffee. Lance sighs, blinking a few times before he begins to speak. 

“Okay, so I was thinking about Christmas. You know how I came home early, and I was really worried about ruining the space-time continuum or whatever it is that you’re all worked up over,” He says dismissively, “But I didn’t. Or at least I don’t think I did. I actually think this has all happened before. For you, I mean,” He looks worked up, eyes trained on Keith's. 

“Yeah, I know that. Your point?” 

“Ugh, Keith, you idiot. It doesn’t matter what you do because  _ you’ve already done it _ . You can’t ruin the space-time continuum or whatever the fuck because all of your decisions are what made time travel exist in the first place. I don’t answer your text and calls because you told me not to. I came home early because of you. I’m thinking about going to college and moving away from here which wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t here right now,” He stressed, but Keith still didn’t see his point. 

“You have to go see Allura because it’s what you have to  _ do _ , Keith.” He argues, and Keith shakes his head. 

“That doesn’t make any sense, Lance. I can’t interfere with the past without some kind of purpose,” He argued and Lance shook his head. 

“You don’t get it, idiot,” 

“Why do you keep calling me an idiot? It’s kind of rude,” He said seriously. 

“You’ve been keeping tabs on all of your colleagues, right? And most of it makes a lot of sense. Most of it works with the future that you know to be true. Everything except for Allura. You said that something big would have to happen for her to switch concentrations like that. You said that people don’t just stumble into exotic matter,” 

“Because they don’t,” Keith said annoyedly, still not following Lance’s logic. 

“You’re the something huge. You’re the inciting incident. You have to find her and tell her what you know. Or else she isn’t going to stop working on her particle collider, and everything is going to be fucked,”

And then it clicks. Keith’s eyes widen, and he nods slowly. The logic is a bit off, but overall, Lance makes sense. And more than that, Keith feels like it makes sense. He knows deep down that if nothing big happens, Allura would never abandon her precious research. What would he have to say to a perfect stranger in order to convince her that he was from the future? How does he explain that to another person? 

And then, he realizes that it doesn’t really make sense to worry about. He’s done it before, and he can do it now. 

“Lance, you’re a fucking genius,” He said softly, and Lance shrugs. 

“No, I’m not. I just have more common sense than you, you’re like a brick sometimes,” He says,  but Keith shakes his head. 

“No, no you don’t get it. You have this really interesting way of looking at the world. All of this is logic to you, but I don’t think I ever would have come up with this. It never would have occurred to me. And this… it’s a pretty big deal.” 

“You think?”

“Yeah, Lance. Definitely.”


	7. Allura

Keith is actively avoiding looking at Lance, staring at anything in their small bedroom other than the shirtless 22-year-old. He was wearing a pair of black jeans so tight they basically could have been painted on. 

“Where are your friends taking you?” He asked, trying to distract himself by fiddling with the hem of his sleeping bag. 

“Oh, it’s Leifsdottir’s birthday. So we’re just going out to dinner. I’ll be back in early, don’t worry.” 

“No, it’s your friend’s birthday, don’t you want to-”

“I had to get up at 3:00 this morning for work, I’m exhausted. Trust me, after a few glasses of wine, I’ll be ready to pass the fuck out,” 

“Are you sure, I know you don’t work tomorrow. You could sleep in,” Keith tried to press, not wanting to ruin the younger man’s night. Lance rolled his eyes dramatically. 

“I have the next few days off, and I’ll bring you back leftovers from dinner, okay?” He said, his tone gentler. 

He sits up, watching Lance slip a baby blue t-shirt on. He swallowed thickly, shaking his head and sighing. It brought back too many memories from before. He used to watch lance get dressed in the morning before work, and it wasn’t a door that he wanted to open. 

“James is here. I’ll be back in a couple hours,” Lance says, looking over his shoulder at Keith before leaving. Keith stands, lingering near the door for a moment before locking it. 

There was a special kind of loneliness on nights like this. He knew that Lance was out, living his life. And Keith knew that he was living his own life down in Florida and that he was just there, occupying space in a place where he was never meant to return to. 

When they had gotten together, Lance had always made comments about the two year age gap between them. But now, Keith was nearly a decade older than Lance was. It was almost comical, their situation. It had taken Lance months to stop calling Keith old man when they had been younger. 

Keith sighs wistfully, laying back and staring up at the ceiling. And he lays like that for what must be an hour, his mind shifting between thoughts of Allura (mainly how to convince her that he was from the future) and thoughts of Lance. He tries to avoid thinking about Lance, his beautiful smile and perfect lips. Eventually, he gives up and gets himself off in the shower. 

While he’s drying himself off with one of Lance’s powder blue towels, his mind wanders back to the younger man. He thinks about how certain Lance was that Keith had done this all before. Keith knows that he’s right. This Keith has just as much of a place in 2017 that younger Keith does. But Lance is so nonchalant about the whole thing as if he expects Keith to do everything that he deems necessary. And how far does that reach go?

What if Keith wanted to go outside? Which he did, by the way. More than he wanted almost anything else. He would give all of his money to just spend an hour sitting outside in the parking lot of their apartment complex. Does he just do it? Fuck the consequences? Or does he plan it all out in painstaking detail like their trip to Houston to talk to Allura? 

Keith sighs, throwing on some clothes before wandering out to find some paper and Lance’s laptop. He wonders if he can just walk around and find Allura with his head held high. It shouldn’t matter, right? He has done this all before. 

He sits down at the kitchen table, uncapping his pen and starting a list. On the left side, he writes down what he knows from 2023 about all of his colleagues. On the right side, he writes down everything that he knows about them in 2018. Between them, he lists ways to get them all from point A to B, his intervention included. 

He needs to figure out how to deal with Hunk being in the wrong Ph.D. program, but he can’t even try to fix that until he’s spoken with Allura. Keith taps the pen against the table quickly, deep in thought as his eyes shift between the three columns. He tries to remind himself that he’s already done this all once, so it won’t be too difficult to deal with Allura. 

He pulls out a new sheet of paper, writing  _ I’ve done this all before  _ over and over again until the entire sheet is full. He stares at it with wide eyes, groaning quietly. He feels like he’s losing his mind. In the silence, he can’t help but wonder if Lance had kissed him on New Year’s before. Or if Lance had said I love you before falling asleep before. Or if they had slept next to each other without touching for an entire year before. Or if he had fallen in Love with Lance again before. And if his heart was shattered when he returned to his own timeline before. 

Keith is startled by the sound of the front door opening, causing him to flinch, his eyes darting over to where the beautiful younger man was now standing. He looks at the microwave clock then, surprised to see that it was just after midnight. How long had be been sitting there?

“Did you have fun?” Keith asked, the words feeling hollow. Lance shrugged. 

“Yeah, I guess. Rizavi and Kinkade were late because they were arguing about something. And then we needed a bigger table, so it was like half an hour later than it was supposed to be. I brought you the rest of my food,” He said, smiling a little. 

“But it was good though?” He asked, and Lance just nodded, looking preoccupied with something important. 

“Yeah, Ina had a good time, and that’s really all that matters, I guess,” he said, fidgeting just a little bit. Keith yawned, raising his eyebrows at the brunette. 

“James asked me out. On a date.” 

The silence that settles between them is thick. Keith feels a sharp twinge in the pit of his stomach, and he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to respond to that. 

“You should go,” the words are out of his mouth before he’s even comprehended the weight of the situation. 

Lance clearly had not expected that, and his expression startled. 

“Really?...”

“Yeah, I mean it could be good for you, yeah?” Keith opens the to-go container, taking a bite of the pasta, his mind running wild with thoughts of Griffin’s hands on Lance's skin It made him feel a bit nauseous. 

“Are you seeing someone?” Lance asks quietly, and Keith cringes, forcing himself to make eye contact with the younger man. 

“No, Lance. Didn’t we already talk about that? I feel like we talked about that,” He said, voice softer. 

“I just… thought that maybe that was why… never mind. I guess I can just text him, let him know that we could uh… yeah,” Lance says dumbly, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. The only sound in the room after that is Lance pulling out his phone and tapping out a message. 

“First dates on Valentine's day are a little weird, but maybe it’ll be good for me,” He says stiffly, nodding once. He turns on his heel then, storming away, and Keith flinches as a door is shut too loudly for that time of night. He hears the shower turn on. 

Keith buries his hands in his head groaning annoyedly. He had done a lot of stupid things today, getting off to Lance in the shower, convincing himself that maybe it would be okay if they tried this again, to convincing Lance to go on a date with  _ Griffin of all people _ on Valentine’s day. Which also happened to be the anniversary of their first date. 

He cleans up as quickly as he can before turning the lights off and climbing into bed without brushing his teeth. He tries to fall asleep before Lance is finished with his shower, but his mind keeps racing, running in circles around itself. When Lance is done, Keith pretends to be sleeping. He figures that Lance is aware of his faking because Lance isn’t trying to be quiet, slamming drawers and turning on the overhead light. 

It’s going to be a long few weeks until Valentine’s day, and Keith finds himself hoping that their date is a disaster. And as he drifts off to sleep, he wonders if he’s done this before too. 

 

The days leading up to Lance’s date with Griffin are both worse and better than Keith had thought they would be. The first day is awful. Lance is basically giving Keith the silent treatment complete with cold glances and empty stares. In response, Keith is aggravated and standoffish. He knows that ultimately, none of this is Lance’s fault, but still. He’s angry that Lance went along with it. 

It’s possible, Keith concedes, that perhaps Lance is trying to make him jealous. And Keith doesn’t want to be jealous. Really, he doesn’t. But it’s hard to not feel slighted when Lance had been eager enough to go see James. Keith’s jealousy is irrelevant. 

After the first day, Keith half expects Lance to never speak to him again. But two days later, he wakes up to a relatively normal Lance, puttering about the kitchen. They’re both cautious at first, acting like two brand new roommates, both afraid of stepping on the others’ toes. 

They get dressed in the early morning quiet before making their way out to the car. 

The drive to Austin is about two and a half hours, the radio playing some trashy pop songs that Lance hums along to. Keith stares out the window, watching the hues of red light up the horizon. He had always liked the violent look of sunrise. 

After the sun is low in the sky, Keith rereads his notes four times in total, making sure that he isn’t missing anything about 2023. 

There obviously aren’t any master’s level classes in Allura’s field today, but Lance is certain that he knows where she’ll be because of her constant tweets. She has spent the last four Saturdays at the University’s library working. 

Lance parks and heads inside the Library, not waiting for Keith to follow him inside. Keith lingers near the car for a minute before shaking his head and heading inside, looking around. 

Lance is already making his way towards the back of the room, and Keith jogs after him, noting the confidence in Lance’s step. Lance finds a stairwell and doesn’t even pause before bounding up the steps. Keith follows behind him. 

At this point, Keith is annoyed because they’ve made it all the way to the fourth floor and then across the building. He’s in shape from years of rigorous training and days of pushups in the apartment, but it doesn’t annoy him any less. 

“How the hell do you know where you’re going?” Keith demands, and Lance just rolls his eyes. 

“I already told you, Keith. She practically live tweets. There’s some kind of nook over there. She likes it. She posted a couple of pictures, and I could see it from the parking lot. Don’t be a dick,” He murmured, gesturing ahead. 

Keith shuts up then, letting Lance lead the way. He walks slower now, tentatively making his way towards the study space that Allura usually occupies. There’s a girl sitting on a fluffy yellow couch. 

“That’s not her, come on,” Keith mutters, and Lance frowns. 

“How would you know? You can’t even see her face,” Lance argues, clearly annoyed. 

“I’m serious. There is no way that’s Allura. That girl has tattoos. And purple  _ hair _ ,” Keith argued, thinking back to collected, pretentious Allura. 

“Hi,” Lance says then, walking closer, his voice obviously directed at Allura, “Um, you don’t know me, but I’m Lance McClain. You’re Allura, right?” He said, turning to face her on the couch. He stares in stunned silence as she nods, and a familiar voice fills the small alcove. 

He thinks again about the refined young woman that he works with and how  _ different  _ she is now. She has purple hair. She has tattoos, intricate, colored lions. He is pulled from his thoughts when Allura turns to look at him. 

“Huh?” He says dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open. 

“I was just telling Allura how interesting you thought her work was. How you’ve read her papers all at least like five times. And she said-”

“I didn’t really think anyone was really that interested in my papers,” She says, smiling warmly, “Keith, is it?” and she extends her arm (the one with the lions). Keith shakes her hand, forcing an uncomfortable smile onto his face. 

Keith nods, feeling a bit dizzy. He moves to sit down, letting out a nervous sigh. He doesn’t know where to go from here. This Allura seems so fundamentally different than his own Allura back home. 

Allura sits back down on her couch, pushing her hair behind her hair. Keith catches a glance of the scar across the back of her hand. He could remember meetings where Pidge and Hunk hang on her every word while he stared at that scar, the only thing about her that made her feel human to him. 

“Yeah. I found your article on Boson particles interesting,” Keith explains, glancing at Lance for encouragement. He had never been too good at speaking, “Have you uh… ever thought about applying your work to exotic matter?” He asks, cringing a bit at how forced he sounds. 

Allura thinks for a second before shaking her head, “No, I’ve never really been interested in things that are purely theoretical. That’s why I like working with the collider. I have actual results to work with,” She explains, “interesting thought though,” 

Keith nods because he knows that he has to ease into the whole exotic matter equals time exploration thing. So they discuss Allura’s papers, and Keith explains his thoughts on all of the engineering aspects of the collider. 

Keith can tell that Lance is hanging on every word and that he seems genuinely interested. Keith feels a strong sense of proudness at that moment, even though he really has no right. 

They finish up their conversation and are about to part ways when Lance looks between Keith and Allura quickly. He’s been quiet for most of the conversation, which is out of character for Lance, but then he speaks up, “Hey, Allura? What about that theory in your paper? Supersymmetric theory? Couldn’t that be applied to exotic matter?” he asked. 

Allura hums, looking up at the ceiling for a minute, “Yeah, I suppose so. I don’t know a lot about exotic matter, so I couldn’t really say for certain,  but it’s a cool idea. You studying physics?” She asks, genuinely curious, eyes trained on Lance. He shakes his head. 

“I just read the papers sometimes. I have to be able to keep up with this genius over here,” Lance says, trying to joke, but Keith can see genuine interest in his eyes. 

“You should think about it. There are some really solid master’s of physics programs around here,” Allura suggests, smiling at him. 

“Yeah, maybe. I do think it’s interesting. But perhaps my interests are a little more… experimental than yours,” He says, and Allura nods, clearly thinking about his question about exotic matter. 

After exchanging emails with Allura, they take the elevator back downstairs and wander to the car. They are silent again for a while, sitting in the car. After a while, Keith speaks up. 

“She has tattoos,” He says blankly. 

“So do you, mullet,” Lance retorts, and Keith rolls his eyes. 

“But my Allura doesn’t have tattoos. Her  _ hair is purple _ ,” He tries, shaking his head, “My Allura is all calm and collected and not artsy or anything. She wears dress clothes and has blonde hair and she always speaks so perfectly. She’s like a robot. That Allura is a  _ person _ ,” Keith rants, and Lance snorts. 

“Allura seems cool. I don’t know why you’re being all weird about it. People change,” 

Keith doesn’t answer that, allowing the car to return to silence. After half an hour, he can tell that something is worrying Lance, but he doesn’t ask. When they park again outside the complex, Lance sighs. 

“How much does she know? Your Allura, I mean. How much did you tell her?” and after he’s said it, Lance gets out of the car, walking towards the front door of the apartment before Keith has a chance to answer. 

Not that he knows what to say to that. 


	8. Admissions

The next few weeks pass in a blur of math equations and pacing their small apartment. Lance and Keith remain civil, which honestly surprises Keith. He had expected more tiffs what with Lance’s obvious disdain. 

He knows how much Lance adores Valentine’s day. Lance loves it so much that February had become Keith’s least favorite month. There wasn’t a too-warm February day that didn’t remind Keith of Lance. One year, Hunk had bought Keith a box of chocolates, and when he had presented the gift, Keith had just stared at the heart shaped box with wide eyes for a minute before Hunk tucked it away, never bringing it up again. No one bought him chocolates after that. 

Valentine’s falls on a Wednesday this year, and Keith feels on edge the entire morning, unable to focus on any of his research. When Lance gets home from work, he locks himself in the bathroom, and Keith puts on an episode of criminal minds, answering an email from Allura and wondering why Lance had been in the bathroom for so long. 

Halfway through one of Keith’s favorite episodes, he hears the bathtub drain and the shower turn on, and he rolls his eyes. The thought of him getting all dressed up for Griffin made him tense, so he tried to just focus on the episode in front of him, trying to ignore Lance’s lilting voice coming from the bathroom, singing quietly in Spanish. 

A few minutes later, Lance throws open the bathroom door, walking inside ass naked, his hair in a towel. Keith’s cheeks were bright red, and he looked away jerkily. 

“Jesus, Lance. Put on some fucking underwear,” He said tersely, and he could practically head Lance’s eye-roll. 

“Fuck off, Keith. It’s my bedroom,” he snapped back, and Keith sighs, shaking his head, “Besides. What do you think I’m doing. I just have to find…” He trails off, and Keith glances over just in time to watch him pull a pair of lace panties up his thighs. Keith’s breath catches in his throat. 

Keith slams the laptop shut, tripping over himself as he storms out of the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind him as hard as he possibly can, feeling the vibrations echo through the air. He lets out a shaky breath before stalking over to the kitchen, leaning against the table, eyes tracing the grain in the wood. 

He stands there for a couple minutes until he calms down enough to walk over to the couch, grabbing one of the books and sitting down. He lets himself be distracted by sections and sections of black holes and exotic matter until his head hurts. 

Keith hopes that Lance is just fucking with him. He hopes that Lance doesn’t want to go on this date with Griffin. He hopes that Lance is doing this all out of some weird sort of spite. He knows that Lance will put on his best date outfit anyway. 

A while later, Keith hears Lance’s ringtone from inside the bedroom, and when Lance opens the door, he speaks to Keith quietly, “I told him to wait outside, so don’t bother hiding,” 

Keith watches Lance pull on a coat and check his hair in the mirror one last time, every nerve ending on his body aflame. He tells Keith not to wait up before slamming the front door. 

Keith was right. Lance is wearing exactly what he thought, down to the fucking underwear, although seeing it in person felt a lot more visceral than imagining it. And underneath that navy blue button up, and those stupid skinny jeans, Lance was wearing his lacy blue boyshorts. The underwear that Keith had bought him for their anniversary. 

Keith stares at the wall, unblinking for a moment before he lets out a shaky groan, squeezing his eyes shut. He didn’t know how to process these feelings. Was it rage? Hurt? Horniness? All three? 

He stalks to the bathroom, getting himself off annoyedly. He has given up hope that he can live with Lance and not fantasize about him. 

He barely avoids drinking himself into oblivion while Lance is gone, eyeing the liquor cabinet once every few minutes throughout the night. He wants to be sober in case something happens, and Lance needs him to come pick the younger man up. And he hates himself for being a responsible adult. He hates himself for worrying about Lance’s safety. He hates himself for loving Lance. 

That revelation feels like a punch to the gut. 

 

He’s still sitting on the worn out couch when he hears Lance fumbling with his keys and the lock. So Keith gets up, going and unlocking the door, eyes widening when Lance stumbles into his arms. 

“You alright, babe?” He asks softly, praying that Lance is drunk enough to not notice the pet name. He isn’t so lucky. 

“Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare call me that. You have no right,” He says, words a  bit blurrier than usual. 

He pushes past Keith angrily, struggling to strip out of his coat, getting tangled in the arms somehow. He refuses to let Keith help, jerking away from Keith’s outstretched arms. 

“I’m sorry,” 

“I couldn’t even bring my fucking date home because of you,  _ asshole _ ,” Lance all but growled, eyes narrow. 

“You wouldn’t have brought him here anyway,” Keith says, knowing that Lance wasn’t like that. He was flirty, but he never put out on the first date. He hadn’t even let Keith inside until their third date, so there was no fucking way he would fuck Griffin on their first date.

“I was. I was gonna. Kinkade had some friends over, so we couldn’t go  _ there _ . And you’re here, so we couldn’t come here. And I just wanted to-”

“What, Lance. You wanted to what?” Keith demanded angrily, and Lance kept going, words spilling out. 

“Next time I go on a date, you have to leave. You have to go away, you know that? I don’t care where you go, but you can’t be  _ here _ ,” Lance insisted, and Keith rolled his eyes dramatically. 

“No, that’s ridiculous. I’m not going anywhere. And it’s not like you  _ actually  _ wanted to fuck  _ Griffin _ ,” he argued, and Lance laughed, eyes wide. 

“I do. I do want to fuck James, and judging by the way he was kissing me, I think he wanted to-”

“ _ Fuck you, Lance! _ ” Keith practically screamed, his voice shrill. 

“No, Keith. That’s actually the problem. You’re sitting up there on your fucking high horse. You don’t want to fuck me, but James  _ does _ . And it isn’t fair to-”

“Wait, you let him kiss you?” Keith interrupted, backtracking. 

“Yeah, what’s the big fucking deal, Keith?” He demanded, and Keith was bright red, absolutely fuming. The image of Griffin’s hands on Lance’s thighs occupying every corner of his brain. 

“He shouldn’t kiss you,” Keith said through gritted teeth. 

Lance stops for a second, staring at Keith with wide eyes before he speaks, “Why not, Keith?” 

Keith turns around, not able to look at Lance for another second. He was practically buzzing with energy. He wanted to scream, to throw something at the wall, to cry. 

“You’re angry Keith. Why?” Lance tries again, but Keith just shakes his head. He knows that Lance can kiss whoever he wants. Keith knows that it’s none of his business. 

“Tell me why, Keith. Tell me right now. Tell me why you don’t want me seeing or kissing or fucking anyone else,” 

“I can’t, okay! I can’t stand back and know someone else is touching you. I can’t because I…” He trails off, shaking his head, “I’m jealous,” he finishes instead of what he had originally tried to say. And he turns around to see Lance sitting there on the couch, staring up at him curiously. 

“It hurts too much, okay? And I know that you know. I know you know how jealous this all made me. I know you knew what you were doing. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry that it hurts me to see you go out on a date with another man. I’m sorry, okay? And I know it doesn’t matter,” Keith wishes that he could disappear. 

“It does matter. Of course, it matters,” Lance says quietly, “Your feeling matter, Keith,” 

“No, they don’t. They don’t matter because I can’t be with you,” He says, voice shaky. 

“Yes you can, Keith. God, for being so smart, you’re such an  _ idiot _ . You know I didn’t wear that underwear for James. I took them off the minute you left the room. I wore them for-”

“We can’t, Lance. I’m sorry. We just  _ can’t _ . For a million stupid reasons. I just can’t do it,” He forced out, willing himself to blink back his tears. 

“Fine,” Lance says coldly, stalking into the bedroom, returning a minute later with Keith's sleeping bag, throwing it at him angrily, “Sleep out here tonight, you asshole. I don’t want to wake up to you spooning me like you do every morning,” He seethes. 

“I never-”

“Yes, Keith. You do. Every morning, I wake up to you with your fucking arms around me, and I crawl out of bed, and you don’t know. Because I know you don’t want that. And for the record, you  _ can _ , Keith. You just won’t, and there’s a big fucking difference,” And Lance slams the bedroom door. Keith hears the small click of the lock. 

Keith sits down, staring at the locked door, thinking about the millions of reasons that he can’t. He isn’t supposed to interfere with the past. He also can’t deal with six more years of a broken heart. He’s learned to live with the dull pain in his chest, but he doesn’t know how much longer he can handle it. And his readied admission, the words he had barely heald back still feel like a readied bullet on his tongue. 

_ I can’t because I’m in love with you _ .


	9. Convincing

In an effort to convince Allura to switch her concentration, Keith falls deeply into research of his own. His days of laying around and watching Netflix have slowly turned into days of physics, and he now treats Allura like she’s his full-time job. 

The two email daily, back and forth from the time they wake until long after Lance has returned home from work. Keith breezes through paper, begging Lance to go out and buy him some notebooks so that his thoughts have some semblance of organization. He had hated math when he was younger, but the more he practices, the more it seems to grow on him. He does calculations, snapping pictures of them with the laptop camera and sending them for Allura to check over. 

And Allura is nothing if not thorough. She always takes her time combing through all of Keith’s math, giving her feedback on the work. Keith keeps declining her offers to skype, feeling weird when he sees her face. He’s working on it, but he still isn’t thrilled by his own meddling. 

It’s early March when Lance suggests driving back down to Houston to meet with her again so that they can work in the cozy little alcove in the library. The drive is slightly more comfortable than it was the time before, but things were still weird between the two men. Keith felt as if he were standing on one side of a chasm, staring at Lance who was over on the other side. They were too far apart. 

Lance is polite. He is kind. He is civil. But that is all that he is, and Keith longs for the fire that he knows is inside Lance. He longs to go swimming in Lance’s depths again, but the chasm keeps them separate. He doesn’t want to push it. 

The two don’t really have fun together anymore, and Lance won’t even sit with Keith for longer than it takes them to eat dinner. Keith knows it’s his fault, and he still feels annoyed every time he thinks of valentine’s day. Lance doesn’t even smile at him anymore, not with those brilliant smiles that light up his eyes. Keith only sees Lance look genuinely happen when he calls Allura once a week to ask her question about the things he’s been reading. Keith knows that he could answer all of Lance’s questions, but Lance obviously isn’t interested in hearing what Keith has to say. 

It isn’t what Keith wants. It isn’t enough, but Keith knows that it’s better this way. Sometimes he wonders if he’s done all of this too. He wonders if their relationship gets better or if it remains this cold and uncomfortable. He wonders if lance’s heart gets broken or if it’s only his this time around. 

 

Allura is obviously excited to have the two of them in her small nook on the fourth floor of the library, especially Lance who listens intently, asks new questions and runs off to find them the books that they need. And Keith is happy because Lance is actually acting normal around him for the first time in a month. 

Their day is productive, and by the end, Keith finds that he’s comfortable with Allura now which was something that he never had expected. On their way out of the library, Lance invites Allura to come to dinner with them. And so they all sit in Lance’s car and drive to the nearest Chipotle because Lance wants “trashy American Mexican food”. 

Keith opens the door for them, watching the two go inside, chatting happily. He feels so separate from everyone else. After they get their food, Lance sits across from Keith instead of next to him. 

But as soon as they’ve sat down, Allura looks between them, “So, how long have you two been together?” 

Lance says “Four years” at the same time that Keith starts saying “Oh, we aren’t together,” and Lance kicks him under the table, hard enough to leave a converse toe shaped bruise on his shin. Keith winces, forcing a smile on his face. 

“Yes, I figured that you two have been together for a long time. You fit so well. ,” She says, a  warm smile brightening her perfect face. 

“Thanks, Allura,” Lance says, opening his burrito. 

Keith doesn’t say anything, reaching down to rub his shin. They eat without much conversation, all consumed by their own hunger. 

“So, I noticed your tattoos,” Lance says casually as their meals come to the end. He does not sound nonchalant. 

“Yes. My father used to tell me stories about lions when I was a little girl. When he passed, I wanted to have something to remember him,” she explains, and Keith’s hand moves to cover his own tattoo subconsciously. 

They get up, moving to go to the car after that. Keith holds the door open again, keeping quiet as he follows the other two. 

“I have a few more that are hidden, and I was thinking of getting a new one on my hand. I just have fallen in love with the idea of being a canvas. My undergraduate degree was in art,” She chatters, smiling, and Keith raises his eyebrows, remembering two unmarked hands on his Allura. 

Keith offers the passenger seat to Allura, sitting in the seat behind Lance so that he doesn’t have to see Lance’s face for a few minutes. He wishes to quiet his mind, but at this point, it seems unlikely. 

After Allura was gone and Keith had moved back up to the front seat, they started back on their route to the small apartment that they shared. They were almost back when Lance finally spoke, “Did you notice her tattoos?” He asked, and Keith rolled his eyes. 

“Of course I noticed them. We talked about them for a while,” Keith pointed out, and Lance just shook his head. 

“No, Keith. I mean that they’re all really easily conceivable. If she put on a long sleeve shirt, you would never even know. Everything except for those hand tattoos that she’s planning on,” 

“Well… yeah, that’s true but I don’t really get what you’re getting at.” 

“Well, I have a theory, but I’d like your input.”

“Sure, go ahead. What is it?” 

“You know how I keep saying that you’ve done this all before?” 

“Yeah… oh… well, shit,” Keith muttered, and Lance was quiet for a minute, letting it sink in before continuing. 

“She knows you. She goes to work for NASA, and she’ll meet the you of 2018, but she’ll already know you,” Lance finishes, and Keith just nods. 

“Yup.” 

“I mean, it makes sense,” Lance adds, turning his complete attention back to the road. Neither of them speaks again for the remainder of the night, and it isn’t until they are laying in bed, smothered by the darkness that Keith says anything else. 

“I have to tell her about me, don’t I?” 

 


	10. Before

One of the ladies that works at the coffee shop breaks her ankle tripping down the stairs in her house. Lance is thrust all into his job, working at least six of the seven days a week. His days are longer, early mornings until later in the evenings. He’s been working in the back baking too, trying to help maintain the same quality as before. 

And Keith misses him more than anything, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he focuses on utilizing every free moment that he has during the long days. He often wants to reach out to Hunk and Pidge, throw some ideas around with his friends instead of only talking to Allura and Lance. He feels like he’s missing something like it’s resting there in his peripheral, just the tiniest bit too hazy to make out. He feels like this something is uniquely important. 

He continues to email Allura daily, and their conversations have become mainly about exotic matter and the theory behind it. Keith is terrified of crossing the line. He doesn’t want to be too aggressive and freak Allura out, so he keeps putting off telling him the truth. 

With Lance gone at work all the time, Keith will probably have to drive to Houston alone to tell Allura. By the time early April rolls around, Keith finally decides that it’s time to commit to telling Allura. Lance assured Keith that he could find a ride home if he would drop him off in the morning. 

So they wake early, eating breakfast at the table together silently. Keith checks and rechecks his most recent math, fidgeting with the notebooks that he plans to bring to Allura. He also pretends like he isn’t about to tell his friend about some crazy science fiction bullshit. 

The drive is boring without Lance, and sitting with Allura in their alcove is a bit weird too without Lance’s cheerful presence. They sit quietly while Allura reads through Keith’s notes. Meanwhile, Keith shoves a journal to the side annoyedly. The article is about super heavy metals and how they just found a new element, a stable super heavy metal. It hits a little too close to home with Keith. 

“What did that chemistry journal do to you?” Allura teased, one of her pointed eyebrows raising. She reaches over, skimming the contents and grinning, “Oh, I’ll have to send a copy of this to Hunk. He’ll love this,” 

“Who?” Keith says, sitting up a little bit straighter. He feels like he’s watching his two worlds collide. 

“Oh, a good friend of mine. I met him when I spent some time in California a few years ago,” she says as if this isn’t groundbreaking information. She lays it flat, taking pictures with her phone, still smiling. 

“Is Hunk a chemist?” He asks tensely. He can feel his heartbeat in his temple, and he thinks he might have just lost two years off of his life. 

“Hunk? No, he’s up at Syracuse right now, studying aerospace engineering. He loves this stuff though, kind of like how Lance is with physics. He loves it, and he’s good at it. But it isn’t his focus,” she explains. 

Keith is speechless. None of this is right. Hunk and Allura never acted like they were  _ friends _ . Sure they were  _ friendly _ , but nothing ever indicated that they were hanging out on the weekends. He wants to believe that this is all some weird coincidence, that Allura happens to know a second Hunk that is interested in super heavy elements. He knows, of course, that it would be absurd for there to be two Hunks that love super heavy elements. 

Keith takes a big gulp of oxygen, trying to clear his thoughts before saying, “I have to tell you something,” really quietly. 

Allura just nods, seemingly too calm for what Keith is about to spring on her. 

“Okay, well… first things first, I want you to try and remember that we’ve known each other for a few months now, okay? I um… I kind of work for NASA,” he begins nervously, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. 

“What the hell are you doing  _ here _ ?” She asks, her smile disappearing. 

“Um… I don’t…” Keith shakes his head, trying to find the right words. 

“Are you here to try and recruit me?” She asks suddenly, and Keith stares at her for a minute. 

“Well, that isn’t my job. I don’t have any power there, but I know some people who do. And I know that NASA would be insanely lucky to have you on board,” He says, trying to gauge her reaction. She doesn’t say anything, looking wary, “But you have to switch your concentration to exotic matter,” he adds, quieter. 

“Keith, we talked about that. It’s dead-end science. I’m not interested in anything that’s strictly theory,” she argues. 

Well, fuck. “I need to tell you a story. It’s a true story, but it’s a little bit… outlandish,” 

And so Keith tells him all about his shuttle program, about being young and working on space shuttles at NASA. He tells him about the project in detail. Keith clicks his pen whenever he gets too nervous, but he keeps talking. Most of what he says sounds like theory, and he’s still avoiding the part about actual time travel, but he explains being switched over to a new, secret department. 

“So yeah, I’ve been working at NASA for seven years now,” he says, tense. 

Allura beams, rolling her eyes and shaking her head, “you just told me that you started working there a year and a half ago, Keith,” she reminds, and Keith nods. 

“Yeah. I did. I started working there in January of 2017 when I was 23. In October, I’ll be turning 30,” He says, hoping Allura will take the hint. 

“You really had me going there with all of the NASA stuff. You really commit to a joke,” she says, lightheartedly. 

Keith laughs uncomfortably; it sounded empty. Of course, she thinks he’s kidding. It even sounds crazy to him, “Right? I thought I had you. So I did my time jump wrong, and I ended up a year too far in the past, which ended up being a good thing, I guess. And I wish I could blame Lance, but I’m definitely just a dumbass,” Keith finished, staring at Allura intensely. 

She keeps giggling while Keith tells her the honest truth. He finally says the words time travel, and she doesn’t even bat an eye. 

As he keeps going, Allura starts drawing, her hands moving fluidly. Keith stares at the pen as he speaks, stares until his face heats up. 

“Did you draw any of your tattoos?” He asks without looking away from her paper. 

“Yeah, I drew most of them. I’ve done some for my friends too if you want one?” She says, looking up at Keith and smiling widely. Keith stares at the paper. The picture is upside down, but it actually looks more familiar that way. He slowly drags his eyes upwards to make eye contact with Allura. 

“Yeah. When we were working on the Chrono Exploration Program, we-”

“That’s such a silly name. Who came up with that?” She asks, and Keith sighs annoyedly. 

“I already told you, Allura. You did. You’re one of the lead scientists,” He tries his best to keep a light tone, but he can hear desperation start to leak in. “So we had a major breakthrough, this coming August, actually. We had almost finished all of our facilities, but we had been stuck for a while. It was this one theorem, and it was because we kept trying to take gravity into account,” he explains, and Allura giggles, seemingly delighted. 

“I love how detailed this all is. How long did it take you to come up with all of this?” 

“We wanted to celebrate. So we all got matching tattoos. One of our guys who, weirdly enough, is named Hunk, had his friend draw us up a design. Here’s what mine looks like,” and he stands, pulling his shirt up over his chest quickly before she could object. 

And without even looking down at her, he knows that she can see it. He knows that she recognizes the art as her own work. She had just sketched it on her notepad. 

“How…?” She said, voice quiet. 

Keith covers himself up again, sitting down, ready to explain everything to her again, but Allura isn’t at all curious. She looks paler than she ever has, and she’s shoving things into her backpack, sweeping her things off of the table. 

“I have to go,” She says, practically sprinting off towards the elevator. Keith just watches her run for a moment, feeling helpless. And then he remembers that he can’t just let this go. He shoots up, grabbing the singular notebook that Allura had left behind. 

He runs as fast as he can, but it isn’t enough. By the time he’s outside, her car is gone, and he’s alone in the dreary April afternoon, staring bleakly out across the parking lot. He feels a stinging in his eyes, and he shakes his head, trying to hold himself together. 

This was not how everything was supposed to happen. 

His hands are surprisingly steady as he opens the car door, turning it on and driving back to Austin. He spends the two and a half hours alternating between talking himself off and screaming, thrashing in the driver's seat annoyedly. He doesn’t have a phone, and it isn’t like he and Lance have been on good terms even if he did. He had never felt more alone. 

It’s the longest few hours of his entire life, and by the time he returns home, he’s shaking, tears falling down his cheeks as he cries hysterically. He struggles with the key in the lot, falling down the paranoia rabbit hole, afraid that Lance will open the door and think he’s crazy too. 

Keith screams, slamming his open palms against the door, body trembling. 

The door opens, and Keith’s face floods with relief as he sees the younger man standing in front of him in a crumpled t-shirt and boxers. 

“Keith, are you al-”

And he launches himself at Lance, the force of their bodies connecting thrusting them into the apartment. He hears the front door click shut, and he buries his head in the crook of Lance’s neck. Lance whispers sweet things, petting at Keith’s hair. 

“No, Lance. It won’t be okay. I ruined it all. Everything is ruined. I fucked it all up, and I don’t think I can fix it,” 

Lance frowns, “What are you talking-”

“Time, Lance. Everything. I ruined it all. She thought I was kidding, so I went along with it,” the more Keith talks, the calmer he gets, “We were talking, and she was drawing shapes. You know how she likes to doodle. And she drew it, Lance. She drew my tattoo. She had never seen it, but we were talking about time travel, and she  _ drew my tattoo _ . I told her, and then I showed her. And then she ran. She just fucking sprinted away, and I didn’t catch her, lance. I wasn’t fast enough,” 

“What?” Lance said, rubbing small circles on Keith’s back, trying to assure him, “Can you just breathe for me? You’re shaking,” He said, and Keith nodded, allowing Lance to lead his breathing. They sat there silently for a while. 

Keith is still crying, but he’s more coherent now, “I’m stuck here. Without Allura, I’m stuck here. And I would love to stay here with you forever, but I can’t Lance. I’m ruining your life. I’m ruining your  _ future _ ,” He says, shaking his head. 

“Shut up,” he snaps, the hand that was resting on Keith's shoulder balling up, collecting the fabric of Keith’s shirt. 

Lance lets go as soon as he does it, placing his hand over the center of Keith’s chest, “I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to tell you this, but you’ve already done all of this. It doesn’t matter that she ran. She will  _ come back _ . You have to give her some time,” He says surely, nodding once, his brown hair falling across his forehead. 

“You can’t know that,” 

“No one can know anything, Keith. But I’m right. I can feel it. You won’t be stuck here,” Lance promises. 

“I don’t get how you’re so sure. I’m here, and I’m fucking up your-” 

“Fuck you, Keith. Fuck you if you actually think that’s true. How dare you fucking sit here and tell me that you wish you could stay here with me forever and then turn around and say that you’re ruining y life in the breath. Especially since you won’t even-” he takes in a shaky breath, staring at Lance with a new kind of intensity, “You aren’t ruining my future, you idiot. You are my future. Don’t you get that? You don’t get to pull this noble bullshit. You don’t get to decide what is and isn’t good for me. And you sure as  _ fuck _ do not get to tell me what I can and can’t do. I’m fucking over it, Keith Kogane.” 

“Lance, you know I can’t-”

“I don’t know anything, Keith. You can, okay? You can have me, Keith.  _ You have done this all before. _ You get to be in control, Keith. The only reason that you and Allura and Hunk and Pidge and Car-”

“Coran”

“Whatever. The only reason time travel exists is because you’re here making it happen. You are in charge here. You.” Lance says sternly, his voice rising slightly, “And I love you, okay? I always have. And I always will,” Keith tries to pull away, but Lance stops him, holding tight to both of his hands. 

“And I know that you love me too, Keith. I know you. You couldn’t hide it from me, okay? And don’t say that you can’t. I’m here. And you  _ can _ ,” and he lifts both of Keith’s hands to kiss across all of his knuckles gently. 

“Lance...:”

“Shhh. We’ve done this all before,” he whispers. And Lance keeps his gaze steady as he leans in, connecting their lips in a slow kiss. And this time, it isn’t a drunken kiss that will be forgotten in the morning. It is slow, filled with burning intent and months of unspoken promises. And then Lance drops Keith’s hands, pulling him closer, one hand cradling his cheek while the other is on his waist. Keith finally gives in, melting into Lance, grabbing for anything that he can, hands roaming across his chest. 

And as they stumble back into their bedroom, one phrase is on repeat inside of Keith’s head.  _ We’ve done this all before _ . 

And this time, he finally lets himself believe it. 


	11. Deal

The second Keith wakes up the next morning, his anxiety skyrockets. The entire previous day comes flooding back in vivid detail, and he can barely handle it. And then he realizes that he’s both naked and tangled with Lance; he starts panicking all over again. 

“Calm down, Keith,” Lance mumbles into his pillow, still looking away from the older man. When Keith doesn’t, Lance turns around, reaching over to push Keith’s hair behind his ears, “Are you freaking out about me or Allura?” 

“Both,” Keith says, voice thin and airy. 

“Right. That makes sense… I expected this to be honest,” He says, smiling a bit, “Allura texted me last night. She told me to tell you that she’s sorry she ran off. She just needs some processing time. And I reserve the right to tell you I told you so. So… I told you so,” Lance says smugly, his smile widening. 

“You should have woken me up,” Keith says, frowning back at him, and lance just rolls his eyes dramatically. 

“Please, I didn’t want to deal with you panicking because we had sex. I don’t want to deal with it now, really,” Lance points out, and Keith sighs. 

“I’m not  _ panicking _ . I’m just-”

“I swear to the lord above, if you say the word concerned, I will scream. Loudly.” 

“Lance. You’re 22. I’m almost 30. That’s a big-”

“ _ I  _ think it’s  _ sexy _ ,” Lance says, deviousness hiding in his beautiful eyes. 

“I’m serious, Lance,” 

“I know. So am I. What are you so concerned about, Keith? My innocence? I think that ship sailed a long ass time ago. And guess what, genius? When you and Allura figure out this whole time travel bullshit thing, you’ll still be 30, but I’ll be what… like 27? 28?” 

“So?” 

“ _ So _ , that’s not even an age gap. Not really. I’m not a child, Keith. I know how to take care of myself, okay?” Lance tries to reason, but Keith is still unsure. 

“I’m just trying to look out for you, Lance. And I’m still not entirely sure what you’re trying to say right now if I’m honest…” 

“God, Keith. For someone so smart, you sure are a dumbass. Let me spell it out for you. In 2023, there will be a two year age gap, and I will still be just as madly in love with you as I always have been,” Lance says, voice softening, becoming hazy around the edges. Keith’s cheeks heat up. 

“You can’t know that,” He whispers, trying to move away. Lance stops him, an arm snaking around his midsection. 

“I can, and I do,” he says earnestly, but Keith just shakes his head. 

“I can’t ask you to wait five years for me. It isn’t fair to you,” 

“Fuck off, Keith. You aren’t asking me to do anything. I’m telling you what’ll happen, and I am always right,” 

“Lance…”

“Keith, stop okay? I’m just asking you to trust me. Can you do that? Can you trust me?” he moves closer, leaning in to place a chaste kiss on Keith's forehead, “And if you can’t do that, at least give me until October, okay?” he pleads softly. 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Keith whispers, voice wavering. 

“I know, okay? But I’ve trusted you in ways that seemed impossible before. You showed up here and asked me to take care of you for a whole year. I’m living with the knowledge that my Keith is heartbroken in Florida, and I could fix it with one phone call. But I trust you, and you asked me not to. You asked for my trust, and I gave it to you. I’m hurting you. I can tell that I hurt you. It hides in your eyes when you look at me. I can’t fix that. I can’t make him happy, but I can make  _ you _ happy, Keith. You’re right here. Let me give you that. Let me give  _ us  _ that,” 

Keith can feel his first tear roll down his cheek, and he lets out a shaky breath, “I love you, Lance. I have always loved you. I tried. I did. I tried to get over you, but… god, I could never get rid of you. I did some dumb shit to try and-”

“I don’t care about any of that, Keith,” Lance says sternly, wiping the older man’s tears away. 

“But you don’t even know what I did…” 

“And as far as I’m concerned, I don’t need to know. I don’t  _ care _ . We weren’t together then, and I’d hardly hold your grieving against you,” Lance says, smiling at Keith brightly. 

Keith stares at him with wild, questioning eyes. He had always admired Lance for how strong he was, but there, at that moment, he had never adored the man more. He leaned forward, placing a sweet kiss on the younger man’s lips. 

 

When Keith and Lance finally become productive human beings again later that day, Allura asks to skype with them. Since Lance has the day off, they sit in bed, leaving the laptop far enough that they are both in the frame. 

“Keith, I really am sorry for running off like that,” Allura says instead of a greeting, and Keith just shrugs. 

“I probably would have too. It sounds psychotic or something. I don’t even like to think about it, and I’m the one stuck in the wrong time,” he admits. 

“Yeah, I really don’t recommend getting him started. He’s insufferable,” Lance chimes in, nudging Keith in the ribs, “You should explain your tattoo,” he adds, and Keith nods. 

“Yeah, that… Well, first of all. I think your Hunk and my Hunk are the same Hunk. He comes to NASA right after you do, and I never really noticed that you two are friends… but I also never really hang out with you so there’s that,” 

“Why not?” Allura asks, frowning. 

“You’re kind of an asshole,” Keith says, and it even sounds dumb to him. 

“Oh, fuck off, Keith,” She says, rolling her eyes dramatically. 

“No, for real, Allura. You and the Allura that I meet in a few weeks… you are not the same person,” Keith tries to explain, looking to Lance for help. 

“You act like a pretentious know it all. And Keith hates people who think they’re better than other people. It’s his pet peeve. And so here’s my theory, not that my opinion really matters-”

“Shut up, Lance,” Allura and Keith say at the same time. 

“Of course your opinion matters, you idiot,” Keith adds, smiling, and Allura agrees. 

“Anyway. Allura, you have to wear long sleeve button downs and lab coats every day and dye your hair blonde,” he says, nodding once, and Allura grimaces, shaking her head. She looks sick, and Lance has to hold in his laughter, “I know, I know,” 

“And you have to always hide your tattoos. I almost had a heart attack in the library the first day because I thought I had ruined the timeline because I had never seen your tattoos before,” Keith adds, and she sighs, sounding resigned. 

“How long is this for?” 

“Five years…” Keith says sadly, and Allura looks distraught. 

“Five years? I have to pretend to be a pretentious asshole for five years, and I have to wear long sleeves every day in  _ Florida _ ?” she demands, “Guess I’ll put a hold on the hand tattoos,” 

“I know, I’m really sorry about it. You don’t have to-”

“Shut up, Keith. You are not talking me out of this opportunity. I get to work with exotic matter that actually exists? And time travel? I would wear anything for that. I’ll do whatever you want,” she says, a small smile spreading across her beautiful face, “Now, tell me about Hunk,” 

It feels weird, telling Allura the future, “Well, he discovers the next superheavy metal. He theorizes that it’ll be the number 126, and he’s right. It’s named Garrium after him,” Keith explains, and Allura grins. 

“Of course he does. That man is an absolute genius,” 

“Are you sure you want to drop out of school, Allura?” Keith asks again, still unsure about her abandoning all of her work for him. 

“I already told you, I’m in. I don’t care what I have to do. You said that the head of our department is named Coran?” 

“Yeah. I know how you get in to see him, but after that, I’m not too sure honestly. We have to have something concrete for him to look at. We have to figure out the math. And then you bring it to Coran, and he’ll be eating out of the palm of your hand,” Keith says. 

“And then I what, tell him you time traveled?” 

Keith chuckles, shaking his head, “Leave it vague. Tell him you know one of his guys. He treats us all the same, so that should be fine,” 

They talk for hours, scribbling notes and making jokes. Lance records it, so they can play it back later in case they forget something important. 

It’s pretty late by the time they hang up. The sun has already fallen past the horizon. Lance moves the laptop off of the bed, yawning and standing up to stretch. Keith watches him, a lazy smile on his face. In the months that Keith has been here, he had never allowed himself to look at Lance for this long. He relishes the moment, drinking it in. 

He can’t help but think about all the years that he thought this boy broke his heart. 

“Lance? I have to tell you something,” Keith says suddenly, watching Lance crawl back into the bed. 

“I love you,” Lance responds as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. 

Keith wraps his arms around the younger man, holding him close to his chest, “I just need you to know something,” 

“I already told you that I don’t care what you did,” 

“It isn’t about that, Lance,” Keith starts, and he can feel his anxiety rising, “Uhm… when I signed up for this, I knew it would be really dangerous. There’s a lot that can go wrong… especially on the return hop,” he admits, voice quiet. 

Lance looks at him for a minute, eyes mapping out the older man’s face, “What do you mean?” 

“There’s a chance it won’t work. It’s time travel, and I already fucked it up once, you know. There’s just no guarantee,” he admits. It’s something that Keith had ignored before. He had never really cared. He figured that even if it didn’t work, he’d be making history, and other than that, he didn’t really care about anything in his 2023 life.

“Then stay here with me,” 

“You know I can’t do that,” 

“So what, you might end up too far in the future?” Lance demands, his face clouded with despair, and Keith shakes his head. 

“Not exactly… well, maybe. When we started sending organic matter back in time, we struggled to get it back to its point of origin. Sometimes it disappeared and we… couldn’t figure out where it went,” he explained. 

“Yeah, but then you figured it out,” Lance says as if it’s obvious, and Keith nods. 

“Yeah, and then all of the tests were fine, but I already fucked up once. And I just think you deserve to know all of the facts. I might not… I might not make it,” Keith says gently, and Lance shakes his head. 

“No. You aren’t allowed to worry until October. Not out loud. Because I know that you’re going to make it. And I know that I’ll be there on the other end, ready to kiss your stupid, gorgeous face again,” 

“Lance, you can’t wait for me,” 

“I can do whatever I damn well please, Mr. Kogane,” 

“Lance, it’s five years, babe. You shouldn’t have to lay around for five years waiting for me. Especially since I might not even make it back. It isn’t fair,” 

“Life isn’t fair. And you don’t get a say because I made up my mind, okay?” He leans in to kiss across Keith’s jaw, “I know you don’t want to hurt me, but you’re going to have to get over that, okay?” 

Keith sighs, squeezing his eyes shut. Lance had always been the most stubborn human being, “Can we have a compromise?” Keith asks, and Lance chuckles. 

“What?” 

“If, during these five years, someone catches your eye, go out with them,” Keith suggests, and Lance recoils, looking as if he’s been slapped. 

“Why the hell would I do that?” 

Keith stares at him for a minute, formulating his words so that he won’t piss Lance off, “Well, what will your family think? If you don’t see anyone for five years? And it isn’t like you can tell them the truth, they’ll think you’re fucking crazy. 

“Whatever, Keith,” he says, shrugging, “I’ll think about it, but I make no promises,” 

Keith smiles, caressing Lance’s sunkissed cheek, “Deal,” 


	12. Moving

Together, Keith and Allura figure out all of the math for sending inanimate objects back in time. They still can’t prove it at all, and they have none of Pidge’s wormhole research. But it’s enough for Allura to fly to Florida and see Coran. 

The second Allura touches down in Florida, Lance receives an annoyed string of texts about how hot it is. She also demands that Keith buy all of her drinks for an entire year once he gets back to 2023. Keith has no problem with that. 

“I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Allura just up and moved to Florida because I told her that she should,” Keith says as Lance responds to Allura’s messages. 

“Give her more credit than that. She moved to Florida because she knows the math is right, not because of you,” Lance says, reaching over to ruddle Keith’s hair. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. And speaking of right, I’m still kind of shocked that I did math? And it isn’t wrong? Also, I don’t really know where we go from here,” he adds, and Lance shrugs, leaning his head on Keith’s shoulder. 

“I guess we’ll find out soon. Allura meets with Coran tomorrow, and she said she’d call as soon as their meeting is over,” Lance says, yawning once. 

They make their way to the bedroom, getting under the comforter and curling up together. As they lay there in the darkness, Keith sighs, holding Lance tighter, “I miss Shiro,” he admits, and he wonders if he had ever said it out loud before. 

“I know, Keith,” Lance says, kissing lazily along the line of his jaw, “I wish I could help,” Lance adds, sighing. Keith just shrugs. He had never really missed Shiro before, but then again, Shiro had always made sure to call him every other week like clockwork. 

“I’m sorry, we don’t have to talk about it. I just…”

“No, Keith. Don’t do that. I want to talk about it. I want you to feel comfortable coming to me with anything. I want us to find solutions to all of our problems. I know that it’s awful, you being stuck here. It’s shitty. And I want to make it as decent as possible,” Lance says, and Keith can hear his sad smile. 

“You make it more than decent, Lance,” Keith promises, kissing his temple, “I don’t deserve you,” lance nudges him defiantly in response, but neither of them says anything after that, letting the silence lull them to sleep. 

 

Keith is increasingly moody in the following week, brooding around and avoiding conversations about their relationship. A few days later, Lance comes home early from the shop, and he sees Keith sitting still on the couch, attempting to meditate. 

He’s out of practice, and he regrets not taking time every day to meditate. He’s just been so overwhelmed with all of the work and math that he had been neglecting his own needs. He actually heard Lance fumbling with the door, and he just decided to keep his eyes closed, hoping that the younger man would decide to just leave him alone for a little while longer. 

With closed eyes, he listens to Lance shuffle around, setting his keys on the kitchen counter, taking off his coat and hanging it up before walking off towards the bathroom. Keith doesn’t open his eyes. A moment later, he hears footsteps coming towards him, and then the couch dips beside him, and he sighs, opening his right eye and glancing over at Lance. 

Lance gives him a slow once over before speaking, “It’s a really nice day out today. The sun is shining,”

“Must be nice,” Keith mutters, uncrossing his legs with an annoyed huff. 

“It is. We should go on a walk or something. We should get out,” He says brightly, smiling that gorgeous smile. 

“I can’t… you didn’t  _ actually  _ forget that, did you?” 

“No, of course, I didn't forget. I just figured that if we were really careful, and if we-”

“Go somewhere by yourself, Lance,” He mutters annoyedly, standing up and trying to make a run for the bedroom. Lance grabs his wrist, standing up behind him, “Let go,” 

“Fine, but I’m going to follow you regardless of whether or not I’m touching you,” he points out, dropping Keith’s arm. 

Keith stays still, lingering a foot or so in front of Lanc, avoiding eye contact, “Did you get off work early so you could come and annoy me?” 

“If I’m so annoying, why don’t you leave?” Lance snaps back, crossing his arms. 

“I can’t leave, Jesus  _ fucking christ, Lance _ . Are you serious right now?” Keith demands, spinning around to stare at him angrily, “I can’t leave. I can’t go anywhere. I can’t do  _ anything _ . I’m trapped here in this shitty apartment alone. I can’t call my fucking brother who lives  _ fifteen minutes  _ from here. And I can’t go outside. And I can’t even meditate correctly. All I have are these stupid walls and my stupid fucking brain,” He practically yells, almost vibrating from frustration. 

“I didn’t…” Lance is quiet, a small frown occupying his face. 

Now that Keith has started, he just keeps going, “My brother is right down the street, and I haven’t talked to him in months, and it would be so easy to go and hug him or something. But I can’t” 

“Keith, I-”

“I miss you, you asshole. And you get to leave every day and go be a productive member of society, and I’m here. Alone. Missing you while you’re gone. But then you get home, and I don’t want to see your stupid fucking face because it reminds me of how much I fucking  _ love  _ you. And I feel guilty for even thinking about letting myself feel like this. And I keep thinking about Keith in Florida whose getting totally fucked by all of this and-”

“Keith-”

“And I hate it here. I hate this apartment, and I hate you, and I hate myself for fucking up your perfectly normal life!”

“Keith, stop,” Lance says, reaching out to grab his hand, shaking his head. Lance looks genuinely heartbroken, “I had no idea…” Lance’s voice is gentle, and he squeezes Keith’s hand softly before pulling the older man against his chest, holding him close. 

“I’m sorry, okay? We can work on it, yeah?” he says hopefully, “we can go for a drive so that you can get outside. And I don’t really know much about meditating, but we can do it every day if you want, and I don’t know what to do about Shiro, but I’m sure we could figure something out,” he says, and Keith lets out a shaky breath. 

“I’m sorry. I don’t hate you. I could never-”

“I know, Keith. You’re just frustrated and stir crazy. It’s alright,” He assures, kissing Keith’s temple. 

After Keith calms down, they lay in bed and watch a film before getting up and making dinner together. They talk about everything while they cook. Lance convinces Keith to drive to the track where Shiro takes his morning runs just so he can physically see his older (same age?) brother. 

Shiro was currently beginning his teaching career at Texas A&M in the engineering department. He had also just gotten engaged to his boyfriend of a few years, Adam. Keith missed Shiro more than he’d ever care to admit. 

When Lance wakes Keith up the next Sunday, Keith feels nauseous, afraid of even seeing Shiro from afar. This is the first time he’s done something that could disrupt the timeline just because he wants to. It’s terrifying. 

They spend their early morning together curled up in bed, which isn’t abnormal for the two men. Keith is still weirded out by Lance’s obsession with their newfound age gap, and Lance spends a stupid amount of time adoring Keith’s body. 

The physical training had always just been a necessity. It was required for his job, and it made him feel balanced. It had never had another purpose until the first time he and Lance had sex during the day. Lance had spent a good half hour just staring at him. 

Keith hadn’t minded because he had also wanted to just stare at Lance, relearning the soft lines of his body. There was something especially magical about knowing all of the things that Lance enjoyed, drawing melodic noises from his lips with practiced ease. 

All of the intensity made Keith’s head spin. He still feels guilty about all of the things he had done after their breakup. He had not taken it very well, and he had found solace in alcohol and one night stands for a while. 

But not only that, the move to Florida had put an enormous strain on Keith’s life in every way. He had loved the opportunity to work for NASA as an aerospace engineer, but he had never been very good at making friends. And Shiro and Lance were so far away. Lance’s encouragement had been the only thing keeping him going in the beginning. 

And then, a year into his contract, Lance was gone. 

At first, he buried his feelings away by drinking and smoking and fucking. All of which made him feel good for a while, but left him feeling empty come the morning. And he could balance it all with work for a while. 

But then he spiraled into a deep depression, and he wasn’t doing anything except for work. He stopped going out every night, but he didn’t start doing anything else. He would barely sleep, and he would only eat maybe once a day if he remembered to. 

After three weeks of ignored phone and skype calls, Shiro showed up in Florida unannounced. Keith used his sick days and stayed home with Shiro for a week, letting his older brother take care of him. Shiro let him mope around for the first few days, feeding him and laying next to him while grading assignments from his students. But then Shiro made him get up and shower and eat. They talked about all of Keith’s feelings, and then Shiro helped him find a doctor and a therapist. 

And Keith actually started to get better. He found ways to create a life that was solely his own, and while it was never easy, the weight on his chest slowly started to get lighter. 

And every time he looks at Lance, he thinks about all of that, and it is hard for him to stomach the guilt. Lance looks back at him with so much love, and Keith can’t help but think of the poor depressed Keith in Florida, trying to get himself through the day. He can’t help but think of the 2018 Keith unraveling while he lays there, completely enraptured by the younger man beside him. 

The way that his eyebrows knit together in concentration, and the flex of his biceps while he holds himself above Keith. The goosebumps that erupt across his skin when Keith rakes his nails across it, and the tremble of his abdominal muscles. The hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, and the noises he makes while he fucks himself on Keith’s cock. 

Lance is the most beautiful thing in the entire universe, and every minute that Keith gets to spend holding him is some kind of redemption. And honestly, it’s such a mind-fuck because Keith knows he had to live through all of that because of this. And he cannot avoid the fear that he feels when he thinks of how much pain and abandonment he had felt. He hopes that Lance will be able to forgive him. 


	13. Genius

“For the last time, Keith. I won’t drive past him more than once. He probably hates me, so it isn’t like I want him to see either of us, honestly,” Lance said, rolling his eyes dramatically. 

Keith pulls his hood over his ponytail. His hair is now almost to his collar bones, and he leaves it tied back at the nape of his neck more often than not. He slips into the backseat, leaning down so that he is mostly hidden. He only wants a peek, really, just to see Shiro again. 

“Are you ready?” Lance asks, and Keith nods. 

“Yeah,” He whispers, slinking even lower in his seat, still petrified of being spotted. He’s nervous, his stomach tight while they drive to the track. Keith knows he shouldn’t be doing it, but at this point, he’s kind of committed to doing whatever the hell he wants. 

“Okay, we’re going now,” He says, but Keith makes a noise, leaning over the front seat to press a kiss to the top of Lance’s head before ducking back down. He hears a soft chuckle from the front seat, and his cheeks warmed, “What was that for?” 

“Oh, You know… I just love you,” Keith mutters, feeling more embarrassed than he should. 

“God, you’re such a teddy bear. Can’t believe I ever thought you were cool, honestly,” Lance teased, putting the car in reverse and backing out of the parking spot. Keith can hear his smile. Lance’s smile was perhaps Keith’s favorite view in the entire world. 

When they get to the school, Keith perks up, his eyes darting around, looking for his older brother. Keith’s entire demeanor changes as soon as he finds him. Shiro is as huge as ever, looming tall and broad. He’s more graceful than anyone his size has the right to be. Keith grins. 

As Lance turns, they pass close by, and Keith shrinks all the way down, hiding out of sight. His heart is beating wildly, and he can’t get the smile off of his face. 

“Shit, He definitely just saw me,” Lance mutters, and Keith waits a minute until he knows the track is far behind before he climbs up to the passenger’s seat. 

“That’s okay. He didn’t see me,” Keith says, still smiling. He feels stupid, unable to contain his contentment. 

Keith reaches over, stealing one of Lance’s hand, holding it in his own. It still all felt hazy, like the best dream he could have. Lance squeezes his hand three times, and Keith bites the inside of his lip. 

Once they get back to the apartment, and the door closes behind Lance, Keith pushes him against it, leaning in to kiss him while his fingers dipped underneath the waistband of Lance’s jeans. Immediately, Lance ‘s hands are in Keith's hair, and the younger man makes an indignant noise, pulling the hair tie out and tossing it aside. 

Keith digs his fingers into the skin of Lance’s ass, pulling their hips together. Keith had always been good at distracting Lance. 

Lance pulls their faces away, his head tipping back to rest against the door behind him, breathing heavily. He leans in to kiss Keith’s nose chastely, “Well, that was a nice surprise,” he said breathlessly. 

Keith doesn’t let go, but his hands slip out of Lance’s pants, moving to rest on his hips. He grins at the younger man. 

“Also, we had sex like an hour ago, you heathen. Why are you grinding on me?” Lance asks, clearly amused with his boyfriend. 

Keith pulls away, running a hand through his hair, looking around and finding his ponytail, slipping it on his wrist before answering the (probably rhetorical) question, “I know we kind of decided not to talk about it, but I’ve missed you… for a really long time. I’m just trying to get as much of you as I can before I have to go. It’s soon, and I’m getting I dunno… nervous?” He said, shrugging once. 

Lance’s expression softened, and he reached over to take Keith’s hand, “Baby, you don’t need to be nervous. And also, I don’t mind the extra attention. I missed you too, even though it wasn’t a very long time. Also, I hope you’re prepared for the same treatment as soon as you get back home. Because there is no way I will handle five years as well as you did,” Lance says, kissing Keith’s cheek. 

Keith shakes his head, chuckling, “I didn’t handle it well. And you don’t have to wait for me. I keep trying to-”

“Oh shut up, Keith. Your resistance is futile,” Lance said, still smiling, “The minute you get back, I’m going to fucking  _ ravish  _ you,” 

“People don’t say shit like that in real life,” Keith says, and Lance shrugs, pulling him towards the bedroom hastily. 

“Well, I must not be a person then, c’mere. Get your jeans off,” Lance says, throwing his t-shirt aside. 

 

They lay there in the morning sunlight, staring at each other fondly, naked in the sheets of their bed. Keith wishes that he could be completely in the moment, but his mind keeps wandering to Florida. 

It had taken Allura three meetings with Coran to even convince him to look at their math, but as soon as he did, he was completely on board. Allura said that it was insane how fast things started moving as soon as Coran was committed to the project. 

They offered Keith the transfer, hired Pidge, and convinced Hunk to move from New York all during the first week. Having facility locations chosen earlier made the planning stage easy (although Keith had argued vehemently against putting a facility in Austin). Keith thinks it’s funny now; he remembers being absolutely livid that Allura hadn’t listened to him at all. It was the first thing the two had argued about. 

They had started construction on the facilities a few weeks earlier, and Allura keeps them updated pretty much every day. It’s weird to think that soon, Keith will be back in his own time. 

Lance reaches over pushing Keith’s hair out of his face, “What are you thinking about?” He asks gently, and Keith shrugs. 

“I wonder what you look like five years from now,” He says, leaning in to press a kiss to Lance’s lips. 

“Well, I’ll obviously be taller than you and absolutely jacked,” Lance jokes, and Keith rolls his eyes. 

“Seems fake,” Keith says, yawning. 

“Well, we’ll just have to see,” Lance says, smiling widely. 

Keith can’t get the thoughts out of his head, thinking about the possibility that he won’t make it back. An error had already occurred once, and there was no way for him to know if there was something wrong with the machine or the facility or himself. He felt like a loaded gun. 

The fear stays, the nagging feeling that on October 25th, he will get in a tube and propel himself into nothingness. 

 

As the late summer wears on, Keith is able to force his macabre thoughts away in favor of focusing his energy on Allura. For the first couple of weeks, they work during the day over Skype. But one afternoon, 2018 Keith had stormed into Alura’s office to demand he be sent to Austin to make sure the facility is being built correctly. Keith holds his breath, staring at his computer screen with wide eyes as Allura talks to him. It’s surreal. 

After that, they skype at night when Allura is exhausted. Neither of them is working as well as they could be, but they make do. 

“Allura, can you explain Hunk to me?” Keith asks one day as he scribbles a formula down, eyebrows furrowed. 

“You could use a tablet instead of a pencil and paper, y’know,” She says in response, “I would send you one,” 

Keith laughs, shaking his head, “Did you screenshot it?” He asks, and Allura nods. 

“It’s not the fucking dark age,” Allura says, “What do you want to know about Hunk?” 

“Why didn’t I know that you two were friends?” he asked, and Allura shrugged. 

“It was easy. I told him that we needed to act really professional because I didn’t want you and Pidge to think that I was picking favorites. I told Coran the same thing, and he got excited about having another secret to keep,” She explains. 

“I probably would have noticed if I had hated you a little bit less,” Keith admitted, frowning, “Sorry about that, by the way,” 

“Maybe. This Keith is kind of an asshole though. I know you’re going through some shit, but seriously, Keith,” She says, and Keith chuckles, nodding. 

“About that… can you do me a favor?” 

Keith knows it’s an unforgivable thing to do, and he knows that it isn’t fair to ask Allura to do. And unsurprisingly, Allura tells him she’ll have to think about it for a while. He just can’t sleep knowing that Lance will be waiting for him when it’s entirely possible that he won’t show up at all. And he knows that he, himself will never be able to convince Lance to move on without him. 

The next time they talk, Allura tells him no. Lance is stubborn, and Allura is too busy to take the time to try and convince Lance that it isn’t worth waiting for. She also doesn’t understand why Keith would want Lance to move on. 

And Keith doesn’t want to hurt Lance. Actually, it’s the opposite; he can’t deal with the thought of a lonely, hopeful Lance waiting for years. He can’t imagine the bubbly, people-loving Lance alone and sad for years, putting his life on hold for someone who might not even come back. 

Since he can’t convince Lance not to wait for him, he puts all of his energy into making sure everything about their mission is a success. He starts by making an outline of everything that happened every year, listing every major occurrence and breakthrough for the next six years. Then he tries to fill in anything that seems like it might even be important. The hardest part is detailing his own personal bullshit because he knows that all of the specifics have to happen for him to fuck up the time hop. 

Towards the end of August, Allura calls them around lunchtime in Florida while the two men are laying on the couch in their boxers. Keith watches Lance and Allura talk for a few minutes before he puts Allura on speakerphone. 

“Okay, you’re on speaker now, ‘llura,” Lance says. 

“Right, thanks, Lance. Keith?” 

“Yeah, what’s happening?” 

“Who figures out the whole gravity thing? Remember we took it out of the equation? I don’t want to interfere too much. But you three are struggling with the theorem, and I might scream. Or pull my hair out. Or both,” she exclaimed. 

“Oh, it’s me. It’s kind of stupid, actually,” Keith admits. 

“Just tell her, Keith. Honestly,” Lance says, and Keith glares at him. 

“Right, there’s a friends marathon on. What day is today?” he asked softly, and Allura looks down at her watch. 

“It’s the 16th,” 

“Oh, shit. Today then. Well anyway, the TV in the breakroom? It’s usually muted, but today, it wasn’t. When I went to make my coffee at like… threeish? Like I do every day? And it’s the episode where Phoebe says something about anti-gravity boots. Kinda just clicked,” he said, shrugging. 

And then, Lance is picking up the phone, frowning at it, “She hung up?” he said, setting it back down on the table before turning to look at Keith, “Friends, huh?” 

Keith rolled his eyes, scooping up the phone when a text from Allura came in. 

_ Sorry, had to go unmute the tv. Skype tonight?? _

Keith smiles, texting back immediately. 

_ How about tomorrow? You have some tattoos to draw.  _

“It’s kind of crazy. I know we’ve done this all before, but if one little thing had been different… like if it hadn’t been on friends. Or if we hadn’t unmuted the tv…” Lance trailed off, leaning his head on Keith’s shoulder, “What happens now?” 

“We go get tattoos, and then we start sending small things. In a couple of years, organic matter. After that… here I am,” Keith says, and lance nods, still trapped in thoughts. 

“How are they going to get you back if they haven’t even sent anything organic yet?” Lance asks, and Keith shrugs. 

“That part is a little blurry. No one has seen the arrival chambers but Allura. She wouldn’t let me see. The rooms are right next to each other, arrival and departure. Some people work in the other room. They open the wormhole, and they pull me out. That’s all that I’ve got,” he admitted, and Lance chewed on his bottom lip. 

“Have you told Allura that?” 

“No,” Keith says quietly, “I have to tell her a lot of things. I have to make her a stupidly detailed outline about the rooms and my lieutenants and all of that stuff. I’ve been putting it off,” He says, and lance sighs. 

“Keith, you can’t just ignore that stuff!” he chastises, reaching out to grab Keith’s hand, pulling him close, “Let me in, yeah?” he whispers, ghosting a few kisses along Keith’s jaw. 

“You are. You’re in,” Keith says dumbly, but Lance just shakes his head, looking up at the older man. 

“No, I’m not, Keith. Whenever we’re talking to Allura about Florida, you get all distant. I asked her to stop bringing it up unless she had to,” Lance admits, squeezing Keith’s hand lightly. 

Keith’s eyes widen, and he pulls back, “When? When did you do that?” 

“A few days back, I was on my way to work,” Lance says, and Keith shakes his head. Lance tries to move closer to him again, but Keith takes a defensive step back, “It wasn’t a big deal. I just mentioned that something is obviously bothering you. And then I told him to avoid Florida unless it was necessary,”

“What did she say?” Keith demanded, voice colder than it had been in a while. 

“You can’t get rid of me, Keith. I’m here. And I can’t really do anything to prove that to you, not yet at least. You’ll know in a few months but…” Lance looks down, avoiding eye contact, “I wish you’d told me. How bad it is. Allura told me that a few weeks after she got there, you had to take medical leave. She said that something was seriously wrong with you. It’s better now, but you’re still an asshole,” Lance explains, and Keith sighs, shaking his head.   

Shiro was the only one who knew how bad Keith had gotten, and the two chose not to talk about it. It was mostly just knowing looks and pointed questions from his older brother. He was torn between pulling Lance against his chest and screaming at him for prying. 

“Well, you said you didn’t want to know. And I didn’t want to tell you. So…” Keith said, voice barely audible, “It wasn’t just you. It was everything. My whole situation was a disaster. It’s mostly better now,” 

“Mostly?” Lance questions and Keith shakes his head again. 

“Yeah. Mostly.” Keith said, feeling out of place under Lance’s scrutiny. He walks swiftly towards the bedroom, sitting on the bed, head in his hands. 

He’s surprised when he feels the mattress dip beside him. 

“Hey, dipshit. Stop punishing yourself,” Lance whispers, wrapping himself around Keith. It’s a bit awkward, but the younger man needed to feel him, “we’re in a time loop. There’s nothing you could do then. Nothing you can do now,” 

Keith sits up, turning to look at Lance, “I fucking hate this. Look at what I did. Look at what I did to us, to  _ myself _ . I’m barely a functional person anymore. I… I ruined myself,” 

“Stop it. You are not ruined, Keith,” Lance assured him, leaning over to kiss his cheek, “You’re amazing. You’re so strong, and unique, and wonderful. You’re different. You aren’t ruined,” 

“I had one job, and I fucked it up,” Keith argued, and lance rolled his eyes. 

“For being as smart as you are, you’re such a dipshit. Time travel wouldn’t even exist without you, Keith. You. You did this. You’re a fucking genius,” 

Keith laughs, shaking his head. 

“No, I’m serious. If you hadn’t gone too far back, how would Allura have ended up in Florida?” Keith is silent, “And what about gravity? How would they have known to add that into the theorem? Would Hunk have switched his concentration without you?” 

“But…” 

“No. No buts. You did this. You deserve to go down in history next to Einstein and Curie. And you’ve been blaming yourself for fucking up something that only exists because you created it. You haven’t fucked up anything,” He says, moving to lay back against the pillows, pulling Keith with him, “I thought you knew and were being stubborn. Turns out you just really hate yourself,” Lance whispers, kissing him chastely. 

Keith chuckles breathlessly, “You’ve always been the brain of this operation,” 


	14. Goodbyes

Keith spends most of his last two months frantically filling Allura in on every detail he can think of. After Lance convinced him to stop blaming himself for everything, his productivity increased, but he was still sometimes overcome with guilt. 

The harder Keith tries to convince Lance not to wait for him, the more determined the younger man seems. They finally agree to stop talking about it, and Keith still feels overwhelmed by the fear that he won’t make the return hop. It’s the only part he hasn’t done before. 

So he writes everything down, even the insignificant detail. He fills up notebooks, sending them to Allura and starting new notes. He includes everything, the names of the lieutenants, the specific route to the facility. He wanted there to be no room for error. 

And it’s absolutely wild to him, thinking about the fact that he’s practically led the program from the start. He had always wondered why they had chosen him. It had always felt like some cruel joke. But now, he finally understands. 

He wonders what things will be like when he returns home. If he returns home. 

One day, Keith is laying on the floor, trying to meditate and not think about death when he hears Lance come in, speaking with someone on the phone. 

“Veronica, no. I told you. I’m fine. It’s just been a really stressful year. I’ll come to visit soon, okay?” 

Keith grimaces, thinking about Lance avoiding his family for him. When Lance finally hangs up the phone, he walks closer. 

“Keith?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Oh, I thought you were sleeping,” Lance says, and Keith opens his eyes. Lance sinks to his knees, laying on Keith’s chest, “Veronica wants me to move in with her,” he says quietly, and Keith rubs small circles on his back. 

“Where is she again?” 

“Denver,” Louis whispers, and Keith raises his eyebrows. 

“Is that what you want?” He asks, and Louis just shrugs. 

“I don’t know what I want. But Denver is a city. And I need to figure out what I’m doing for the next few years, and Veronica’s roommate is leaving. It could be cool. There are mountains,” Lance says, shrugging, “It’s cold there,” 

“And schools. Do you still want to go to school?” 

“Yeah, I do… I’m not sure for what, though. I really liked helping you and Allura with the math and physics, but I don’t think I want to do that forever, you know?” 

Lance ends up deciding that he’ll go visit Veronica in Denver after Keith is gone, but that he’ll live out the rest of his lease in Austin before moving up to be with his sister. 

 

Their final week is incredibly bittersweet. Lance takes almost the whole week off, and he stocked the fridge so that he wouldn’t have to leave more than needed. 

Keith feels mopey and guilty, but he decides that it would be selfish to feel pity for himself having to leave Lance. So he hides it as well as he can. Lance is still planning on waiting for him. Lance is the one who is facing loneliness for his foreseeable future. Lance is the one who will have to live the next five years of his life unsure whether or not Keith will actually survive. Keith has no real reason to feel sorry for himself, so he just kisses Lance as many times as he can. 

“I can’t believe you’re leaving tonight,” Lance says suddenly, nipping at Keith’s neck absentmindedly. Keith sighs, pulling him as close as he possibly can. It’s hard for him to believe too. He almost feels empty. Almost. 

Lance leans up, poking Keith in the cheek defiantly, “What’s got you so sad? You get to see me in like 24 hours. There’s no need for you to be pouting,” Lance says, forcing himself to keep his voice light. 

“Hopefully,” Keith mutters, eyes widening slightly. He had been trying so hard to keep his fear contained. He didn’t want Lance to be worrying too. 

Lance stands abruptly, storming to the closet and shoving some clothes on before leaving the room. Keith stands slowly, following behind him, “Lance, where are you-”

“You’re an asshole, you know that Keith?” Lance demands, and Keith flinches at his tone, “You still don’t trust me? After this year, you have the audacity to not trust me?” 

Keith sighed, walking towards him, “No, that isn’t it at all,” Keith tried, keeping his voice even. Keith frowns when he realizes that Lance has his tennis shoes on, keys in hand, “Where are you going?” 

Lance leaves, slamming the front door behind him. Keith curses under his breath, running to the bedroom and pulling on the first pair of pants he sees, a t-shirt shortly after. Keith sprints out of the apartment, getting to Lance’s car while the younger man is starting to back up, pulling the door open. 

“Get out, Keith,” Lance spits, and Keith shakes his head, jumping inside. 

“Lance, no. It isn’t that,” Keith pleads, calming a little bit when Lance puts the car in park, turning to face him annoyedly. 

“What, Keith?” 

“It isn’t that. I do trust you, it’s just that-”

“For fuck’s sake,” Lance seethes, turning the car off and getting out. Keith groans, following after him. 

“Lance, stop,” 

“No! Fuck you! I have done nothing! I do not deserve this, Keith. I haven’t given you a reason to not trust me!” Lance is practically screaming, and Keith flinches, standing outside, where anyone could see him. 

“It isn’t that. It isn’t you. I do trust you. More than anyone else on this stupid planet. I don’t want you to be unhappy. I don’t want you to resent me. When I get back. I don’t… I don’t  _ want you to feel like I did _ ,” Keith says, trying to filter out the anguish. He fails miserably, blinking back tears. 

“Do you resent me?” 

“What?” Keith asks, frowning deeply. 

“Do you, Keith. Resent me, Lance?” he demands, and Keith shakes his head. 

“Of course I don’t. How could I? Why would I?”

“Because I didn’t answer your calls. Or the Christmas present. I cut you out of my life. Do you resent me for it? I hurt you so much you had to take medical leave to piece yourself back together. Do you resent me for it?” Lance’s words feel sharp. 

“None of it is your fault,” Keith whispers, shaking his head, “You didn’t do anything on purpose. It’s my-”

“Oh my god. At least when you’re gone, I won’t have to deal with your woe is me guilt complex  _ thing _ . It isn’t anyone’s fault, Keith,” Lance says, sounding resigned. He pulls off his jacket, throwing at Keith’s chest, “You’re shivering. Put that on,” 

Keith pulls it on, staring at Lance with wide, sad eyes, “Thank you,” 

“I just wish you could believe me. Five years is going to suck. But I’ll get through it, just like you did. I’ve got Veronica, and school, and Denver. If I have to work full time and take classes to keep myself busy, I will,” he says, moving closer to Keith, “I love you, Keith. More than anything else. And that won’t go away. Especially if I think about you waking up tomorrow, five years in the future, loving me like this. Like you do now,” Lance grabs Keith’s hand, squeezing it tight. 

Keith squeezes his eyes shut, “I don’t deserve you,” 

“Yes. You do,” 

“No, I-”

“You do. We deserve each other. After all of this shit, we deserve each other,” Lance promises, leading him back to the apartment, shutting the door behind them. 

“I’m sorry. That you thought I didn’t-”

“Do you really, genuinely believe that you don’t deserve to be happy? After all of this hell, you’ve been put through?” Lance asks, shaking his head slowly. When Keith doesn’t answer, Lance sighs, pushing him towards the bedroom, “Go lay down. I’m going to get another blanket. You better be laying down when I get in there,” he says, and Keith does because there’s no point in arguing. 

A few minutes later, they’re tucked into each other under the blankets, clutching at each other brokenly. 

“I can’t believe you think you don’t deserve happiness,” Lance whispers against Keith’s temple, “You deserve everything. More happiness than anyone else,” Lance promises, kissing his temple tenderly, “and I know we’ve been avoiding it, but I’ve basically planned out our entire future, so you need to get used to the thought of getting married and having some babies, okay?” 

It still seems impossible to have all of the things he ever wanted, but Keith has been walking the line of impossibility for a year now. 

While Keith is trapped in his thoughts, Lance is kissing at his neck, rolling on top of him and settling between his legs. 

“Tell me what you want,” Lance whispers, kissing him languidly. 

Keith smiles up at him, tracing his spine, “Want you to fuck me here. Like this,” Keith says softly, and Lance nods, moving to get condoms and lube, “Um… could we not use…” Keith trails off, cheeks pink. Lance smirks, raising his eyebrows and dropping the condoms back in the drawer. 

“Kogane, you absolute animal,” Lance teases, grinning. Keith turns his head, trying to hide his face, but Lance is having none of that, coaxing him back for a gentle kiss. 

Lance has always been good at taking his time with Keith, teasing him until he’s a rambling, writhing mess on the bed. He loves watching Keith let down his walls. He loves how Keith can come from just his fingers. He loves the way Keith's hair sticks to his neck from the sweat. 

By the time Keith is grinding down on three of Lance’s fingers, Lance nudges his knee, and Keith pulls them up to his chest. 

“Fuck me,” Keith whines, and Lance chuckles, dipping down to bite his inner thigh, basking in the groan that erupts from Keith’s lips. 

“Hush, you,” Lance teases, slicking himself up before pressing inside Keith slowly, staring down at the beautiful ‘o’ occupying Keith’s mouth. 

Lance has to steady his breathing, reminding himself to relish this moment because there won’t be another one for a long while. 

He tries to explain all of the things he can’t say with his words. He wants Keith to know how stunning he is, how much he’ll miss him for the next five years. How much he needs Keith to still love him come five years from now, even though it’ll only be days for Keith. 

Lance fucks into him harder, trying to tell himself that the tears pooling in Keith’s eyes is just a reaction to the sex and not genuine sadness. It’s easier that way. After they’ve both finished, Lance lays on Keith's chest, trying to ignore the feeling of his hair becoming wet with Keith’s tears. Keith had never been this emotional before. 

“Shower?” Lance asks softly, and Keith nods, standing up with him and moving towards the bathroom. 

And after they’re clean, they stay in the shower, clutching at each other desperately, tears hidden under the steady stream of water. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's only one chapter left! Thank you for reading, and be sure to check out my other fanfictions as soon as you're done with this one!


	15. Time

Keith’s uniform has been sitting in the bottom drawer untouched for a year. When he pulls it out, it feels foreign. He puts it in a shopping bag and pulls Lance’s shoes on for the last time. He’ll leave them in the locker, where he’ll have them again in five years. At least Lance will drive him there. It’s the only happy thought he can muster. 

Keith sighs, trying to pay attention to thrumming bass of the song that plays on the radio. He feels like a live wire. He squeezes his eyes shut, feeling dizzy. Suddenly, Lance’s hand is resting on his thigh, steady and warm and real. It brings him back to reality. 

The drive is short, and as they pull up, Keith forces his breathing to remain steady.

“So I just drive into the garage?” 

“Yeah, I’m sorry they’re making you debrief. It’s just a few questions, I promise,” Keith mutters, and lance shrugs, seemingly unfazed, “Allura said it shouldn’t take more than an hour. So just be honest, and-” The next time Keith looks over, there are tear tracks on Lance’s face, “Oh. Oh, no, Lance-”

“Shh. I’m fine. It’s fine. Just an emotional day. I’m sorry I’m such an emotional wreck,” Lance says, chuckling breathlessly. 

“If they ask you anything too personal, tell them to fuck off, okay?” Keith says softly, getting out of the car and waiting for Lance to follow. 

The door opens, and the Lieutenant looks at the two of them, “Kogane? McClain?” Keith nods, leading the way inside, and following the lieutenant to what looked like a few offices. 

“You two can say your goodbyes out here. McClain, you will be across the hall. Kogane, you’re in here with me,” the Lieutenant said before turning and going inside the room closest to the two men. 

“You okay?” Keith asked, but he immediately felt like an idiot. There were tears streaming down Lance’s cheeks, and he was shaking slightly. Keith sighed, reaching up to wipe his eyes. Lance let out a shaky laugh. 

“I don’t want you to be worried about me,” He said, and Keith shook his head, pulling Lance in for a tight hug, “I promise I’ll be okay,” he added, and Keith kissed his cheek. 

They stand there for a minute, silent and holding each other close. 

“I love you,” Lance whispered.  

“I love you too much. I’ll uh… see you soon, I guess,” Keith said, laughing breathlessly. 

Lance reaches up, his hand resting on Keith’s cheek, and he leans in, stealing one more, slow kiss with the older man. 

He then nods, pulling back and motioning for Keith to go ahead into his debriefing. Lance then goes to his own door, turning the nob and going inside. 

Keith’s debriefing lasts for nearly two hours. It’s excruciating, but he knows that Lance’s was only about forty-five minutes because that’s when the second lieutenant came into his interview. He goes over the same information that he has a hundred times with Allura, frustrated. 

When they finally run out of questions, they take him for physical tests. It feels familiar, and when they finish that, the lieutenant leads him downstairs to where his uniform is laid out, freshly cleaned on site. He changes his clothes, putting Lance’s into a sealable bag, placing it in a familiar locker. He sets the locker combo to Lance’s birthday. 

He showers the same way that he had last time, scrubbing himself clean before pulling his uniform back on and heading down to the room marked ARRIVAL. He has a few minutes, so he sits down, attempting to meditate. 

The room is nearly identical to the departure room. He sits down, turning to look over his shoulder when the lieutenant comes in behind him, “Kogane. I need you to recite your assignment. Go ahead and lay down,” 

It doesn’t feel quite like deja vu, but it does feel strange, sitting here one year later (or five years earlier, he supposes). Keith takes a deep breath. 

“Keith Akira Kogane, NASA Chrononaut. Mission two, return trip . Traveling from the Chronoarrival Chamber at 0200 hundred hours October 24, 2018, in Austin, Texas to the Chronodeparture Chamber at 0200 hundred hours October 25, 2023.” Keith says quietly, staring at his hands. 

“And if the mission should go wrong, sir?” 

Keith clenches and unclenches his jaw before answering, “If the mission goes wrong, it was a please working with you,” Keith says, looking up. 

“It was an honor, sir. Beginning the countdown procedure. Five. Four. Three. Two. One,” 

Keith tries to keep himself relaxed, and at first, it feels familiar, his limbs tingling slightly. And then he feels achy, muscles tight and sore. He groans as the pain becomes sharp and unbearable, face contorting in pain. He wants to scream, but he feels paralyzed, flashes of light morphing around him. 

And then it stops. And for a moment, he feels absolutely nothing before leaning over and vomiting on the floor of the Arrival chamber. Everything is hazy, but Keith vaguely registers Allura standing next to him before everything goes dark. 

 

When Keith finally comes back to consciousness, he feels like he’s in a hospital room, although he knows he’s still in the facility. He opens his eyes, grimacing at the IV in his arm. 

A nurse rushes in the room, followed by a grinning Allura. 

“You’re awake,” she says, and Keith just groans, scrunching up his nose, “Yeah, nice to see you too, asshole,” she says, and Keith smiles then. 

“We did it? I’m alive…” 

“You did it,” She says, and Keith grins.

“I brought you some food. It isn’t really palatable, but hey, what are you going to do. You’ve been on fluids for a couple of days, and we don’t want to shock your system too much,” she says, and Keith chuckles. 

“I feel like I got hit by a semi truck,” Keith says, and Allura nods. 

“Yeah, I bet. But in 24 hours, we’ll be home,” She says, and Keith sighs. 

“Home?” 

“Florida, Pidge, and Hunk are on their way back. It wasn’t as bad for them, but I think that makes sense,” she says, and Keith nods. 

“I missed you, you know,” Keith says in response, and Allura grins. 

“You have  _ no idea, you asshole _ . I feel like I’ve been a part of some dramatic, elaborate performance art for  _ years _ . Thank god it’s over,” 

“It’s weird seeing you all covered up,” Keith admits, and Allura pushes up her sleeves. 

“I didn’t know if you’d have any weird memory issues, figured it was better to be safe,” she said. 

“You can go get your hand tat now,” Keith says, and Allura nods vigorously. 

“God, we have so much to talk about. Not now, though. You need to get some rest. I’ll see you later, okay?” 

The next 23 hours are incredibly boring, and Keith feels giddy as he and Allura make their way to the locker room, chattering casually. Keith pulls out his clothes, but he pauses for a moment before opening the locker next to his, pulling out Lance’s clothes and pulling them on. 

Even after five years, they smell like Lance. 

When he goes back outside the locker room to see Allura, he pulls her in for a tight hug, “Thank fuck I didn’t die,” He whispers, and she squeezes him back, nodding.

“Thank fuck you didn’t die,” 

 

Keith sleeps their whole flight, following Allura though the airport drowsily, listening to her tell him stories about the last five years. She informs him that he has a week off before they debrief all together. Keith has never been more grateful, although he feels anxiety in the put of his stomach. He avoids thinking about Lance. There’s still no call or text from him, and it’s been days. He’s too embarrassed to ask Allura about it, even though he knows that they still keep in touch. 

When Allura drops Keith off at his apartment, he thanks her warmly, smiling at her again before heading to his apartment. He sighs, as he realizes that his condo will be in the same state he left it in, clothes all over the floor, empty fridge. He turns the key in the lock. He pushes his way inside, shutting the door and leaning against it, keeping his breathing steady. 

All of his lights are on, which is strange. He could’ve sworn that he had turned those off. He was so tired that he gets Lance’s trainers off and stalked immediately towards the bedroom, making his way to the bathroom, opening the door and screaming. 

A lot of thoughts run through his head. He’s hallucinating. He’s actually dead, and this is hell. He went into the wrong apartment. 

“Shit, sorry, man. Must have gone in the wrong house. It’s been a long day,” Keith said tensely, turning around and frowning, his bedroom in clear view. The floor is clear and the bed is made, but other than that, it’s the same way it was when he left it. The bathroom door opens again from behind him, and he almost screams again as he spins around, but the face he meets catches him off guard. 

“Lance?” He asks quietly. 

“Keith, oh my god,” he says, rushing forward, pulling him in for a tight hug. Keith is still confused, unmoving. 

Keith tries to absorb everything. The past few days have been hell, avoiding the assumption that Lance had moved on without him, that they would never see each other again. And here he is, looking a lot different than Keith remembers. His hair is longer, and there are a few tattoos on his tan arms. His chest is broader, and there’s more muscle. Keith opens his mouth to speak, but instead, he just sobs, pulling Lance tight to his chest. 

He realizes then that they’re both crying, clutching each other too tightly, arms firm. He can’t believe it. 

“You’re here. How?” Keith asks, sniffling. 

“I told you I would be. Honestly, Keith. Yous till don’t believe me?”  
“You said you would text me!” Keith argued, running a hand through his hair, “I figured you had found someone else, that you were happier without me,” Keith forced out, and realization dawned on Lance's face. 

“Shit… I forgot?” He says, biting his bottom lip, “I wanted to surprise you. So I had Allura get ahold of your spare key. I got here a few days ago, but then Allura called and said you were pretty sick and that it would be a few more days,” Lance explained, “I’ve been going a little crazy in here,” he admitted, “And I didn’t meet anyone. I went on a few dates to get Veronica off my back, but it’s always been you, Keith,” he said fondly. 

Keith takes a moment to fully take him in, fingers playing with his tresses, “Your hair,” 

“I know, it’s kind of gotten out of hand. Do you hate it? I haven’t cut it in a couple of years… just trims every now and then. It made me feel closer to you, how gross is that” he says, chuckling, and Keith shakes his head. 

“You look gorgeous. It suits you,” he says, smiling. He looks down, realizing that Lance is still just wearing a towel, fresh out of the shower. 

“Are you wearing my clothes?” Lance asks, and Keith nods, wanting to peel the towel away and devour him. 

“They still smelled like you, so yes,” he said, still drinking in this older, sexier Lance. 

“I missed you too, Keith. I know that’s kind of obvious and cliche, but I missed you so fucking much,” and Keith nodded, chuckling. 

“I feel a little pathetic, I know it’s only been a few days for me, but I missed you more than anything,” he smiles, tracing some of the tattoos on Lance’s arm, “Will you tell me about them?” 

“I have so much to tell you, babe. But you first. How did everything go? How was the hop? You’re obviously in one piece, so that’s a good start,” Lance asked enthusiastically, “Oh, and I emailed you… like a lot. So that when you got back, you could read about everything I did. There’s like… hundreds of emails. I’m sorry,” Lance babbled, but Keith shook his head. 

“Don’t be. I can’t wait to read them all. I’m tired, but everything went fine. I threw up on Allura’s shoes,” he said, grimacing. Lance laughed, grinning. 

“That’s disgusting, and I’m going to choose not to think about it too much. And I know you’re tired, but I’m kind of dying here. Can I touch you?” Lance asked, and Keith nodded, pulling him in for a deep kiss. 

They stumble back onto the bed, tangled in each other. When they pull apart from their kiss, Keith gasps, hands trailing down to a handless clockface on Lance’s chest. The script making up the circle is small and simple. 

“Praeteritum, praesens, futurum. Allura drew it for me. It’s for you, my past, present, and future,” Lance explains, cheeks tinged pink, “I know it’s kind of stupid,” 

“No, not at all. I love you so fucking much,” Keith says, pushing Lance off of him, ignoring Lance’s protests, “No, get off. I’ll be back in a minute,” He says, going to rummage through his closet. Once he finds the box, he holds it close to his chest, making his way back to the bed. 

“You still have this?” Lance asks, and Keith nods. 

“I told you I did. Open it,” he says seriously. 

Lance carefully unwraps the package from so many years ago. It isn’t a large box, just big enough to hold the contents. When Lance finally pulls back the flaps, Keith holds his breath, watching him nervously. Lance reaches in, pulling out the small box holding the simple silver necklace on a silver chain. It was Lance’s favorite constellation, and he had it custom made for Christmas before they broke up. The second gift was supposed to be for the next time Keith went to visit Lance, but after they had broken up, he had packaged up both in a last ditch effort to fix everything he had ruined. 

“It’s gorgeous, Keith. But I don’t really understand…” 

“There’s another gift,” Keith says, swallowing thickly. Lance reaches back in, pulling out a small velvet box. 

“Keith,” lance whispers, but the older man shakes his head. 

“Just open it,” He says, and Lance does, gasping softly. The band is simple, a small opal in the middle, glimmering in the light of the bedroom. 

“It’s beautiful,” Lance whispers, and Keith smiles softly. 

Keith grins. The ring was supposed to be a promise ring of sorts, a placeholder until his contract was up and he could return home to Lance. But he didn’t want to wait anymore, “Marry me,” Keith says boldly, and Lance's head snaps up. 

“What?” he says, fumbling to get the ring out of the box,” 

“I don’t want to wait. We’ve spent so long denying ourselves, and to be honest, I’m over it. Marry me,” Keith tries again, and Lance nods slowly, tears filling his eyes. 

“Yes,” Lance says before tackling him, smashing their lips together needily. When he’s satisfied, he pulls back, slipping the ring on and admiring it, grinning widely. 

He then pushes Keith back on the bed, moving between his legs, “I’m gonna suck you off now,” 

“Baby, I want to touch you too,” Keith whines, and Lance rolls his eyes. 

“Nope. You said you’re tired. Lay back. Let me take care of you. We have all the time in the world,” Lance reminds, kissing Keith’s hipbone, “Missed you,” he whispers, and Keith snorts. 

“Are you talking to me or my dick?” 

“Your dick,” Lance informs, smirking up mischievously, “But I missed you too, of course.” 

 

After they’re both sated, they lay, curled up in each other’s arms, Keith stroking Lance’s hair absentmindedly. 

“I want to read your emails,” he says, and Lance yawns, kissing lazily at Keith’s chest. 

“Later, baby. Just lay with me now,” he pleads, lacing their fingers together, the metal still feeling a bit foreign. 

“I love you, you know,” Keith says, and lance nods, flushing pink. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s always been you, Keith. You’re my forever,” He whispers, and Keith kisses his temple. 

“Forever,” He whispers back, reminding himself that they have nothing but time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me, and if you enjoyed, go check out my other fics! Also, I'm already in the planning stages of a new chaptered fic, so be on the lookout for that!


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